Defence Determination 2014/13, Post Indexes Amendment

Defence Determination 2014/13, Post indexes – amendment

I, INGRID CECILIE SINGH, ActingDirector General People Policy and Employment Conditions, make this Determination under section 58B of the Defence Act 1903.
Dated 3 March2014
I C SINGH
Acting Director General
People Policy and Employment Conditions
Defence People Group

PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

1 Citation

1. / This Determination is Defence Determination 2014/13, Post indexes – amendment.
2. / This Determination may also be cited as Defence Determination 2014/13.

2 Commencement

This Determination commences on13March2014.

3 Amendment

Defence Determination 2005/15, Conditions of Service, as amended,1 is amended as set out in this Determination.

4 Annex 15.2.A (Post indexes)

substitute
the Annex set out in the Schedule
NOTE
1. / Defence Determination 2005/15, as amended to date. For previous amendments see Note to Defence Determination 2014/1 and amendments made by Defence Determinations 2014/1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.

SCHEDULE

Annex 15.2.A: Post indexes

Posting location / Applied index / Published index
AFGHANISTAN / 100.0 / 0.00
[Note: no price data is available for this location.]
BELGIUM / 122.7 / 122.7
BRUNEI / 100.0 / 79.2
CAMBODIA / 100.0 / 81.0
CANADABritish Columbia / 106.7 / 106.7
CANADAOntario / 103.4 / 103.4
CANADAQuebec / 102.9 / 102.9
CANADA Other / 102.5 / 102.5
CHINA / 133.7 / 133.7
ETHIOPIA / 100.0 / 84.2
FIJI / 100.0 / 88.2
FRANCEParis / 128.9 / 128.9
FRANCE Other / 117.4 / 117.4
GERMANY / 126.5 / 126.5
INDIA / 100.0 / 74.4
INDONESIA / 100.0 / 79.1
IRAQ / 100.0 / 0.00
[Note: no price data is available for this location.]
JAPAN / 136.8 / 136.8
JORDAN / 103.8 / 103.8
KIRIBATI / 116.3 / 116.3
KOREA / 138.1 / 138.1
KUWAIT / 100.0 / 89.1
MALAYSIA / 100.0 / 79.7
MARSHALL ISLANDS / 117.6 / 117.6
MICRONESIA / 100.5 / 100.5
MYANMAR / 100.0 / 85.0
NETHERLANDS / 117.1 / 117.1
NEW ZEALANDAuckland / 122.6 / 122.6
NEW ZEALANDChristchurch / 118.3 / 118.3
NEW ZEALANDWellington / 120.2 / 120.2
NEW ZEALAND Other / 120.3 / 120.3
PAKISTAN / 100.0 / 62.0
PALAU / 109.3 / 109.3
PAPUA NEW GUINEA / 120.1 / 120.1
PHILIPPINES / 100.0 / 78.1
SAMOA / 100.3 / 100.3
SAUDI ARABIA / 100.0 / 76.2
SINGAPORE / 122.6 / 122.6
SOLOMON ISLANDS / 128.4 / 128.4
Posting location / Applied index / Published index
SPAINMadrid / 113.2 / 113.2
SPAIN Other / 107.8 / 107.8
THAILAND / 100.0 / 88.8
TIMOR-LESTE / 114.8 / 114.8
TONGA / 105.1 / 105.1
TURKEY / 100.0 / 90.9
TUVALU / 141.3 / 141.3
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES / 100.0 / 85.2
UKLondon / 117.9 / 117.9
UK Other / 106.4 / 106.4
USAAlaska / 103.2 / 103.2
USACalifornia / 105.9 / 105.9
USAColorado / 100.0 / 91.9
USA Connecticut/Rhode Island / 101.1 / 101.1
USAFlorida / 100.0 / 97.7
USAGeorgia / 100.0 / 92.5
USAGuam / 100.0 / 93.8
USAHawaii / 114.8 / 114.8
USAIllinois / 103.0 / 103.0
USAManhattan / 119.3 / 119.3
USA Maryland/Virginia, including WashingtonDC / 102.7 / 102.7
USAMassachusetts / 100.0 / 98.5
USAMissouri / 100.0 / 95.7
USANew YorkState, excluding Manhattan / 113.3 / 113.3
USATexas / 100.0 / 93.6
USAWashingtonState / 101.8 / 101.8
USA Other / 100.0 / 99.9
VANUATU / 123.7 / 123.7
VIETNAM / 100.0 / 78.0

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Defence Determination 2014/13

This Determination amends Defence Determination 2005/15, Conditions of service (the Principal Determination), made under section 58B of the Defence Act 1903 (the Defence Act) and in accordance with subsection 33(3) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (AIA Act). Determinations made under section58B of the Defence Act are disallowable non-legislative instruments and are subject to the interpretation principles in the AIA Act, as modified by section 58B of the Defence Act.

This Determination amends Chapter 15 of the Principal Determination,which sets out provisions dealing with living and working on long-term posting overseas for members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and Australian Public Service (APS) employees.

This Determination implements revised post indexes for ADF members at overseasposting locations. A data service provider works out the post index from local prices surveyed in Marchand September each year. An exchange rate movement in the national currency of 2 per cent or moresince the post index was last varied then prompts an amending Determination to vary the post index.

Clause 1 of this Determination sets out the manner in which this Determination may be cited.

Clause 2 of this Determination provides that the Determination commences on13 March 2014.

Clause 3 specifies that the amendment is made to the Principal Determination, as amended.

Clause 4 substitutes Annex 15.2.A of the Principal Determination. The new Annex changes post indexes at a range of posting locations. The changes are due to recent exchange movements.

The applied post indexesdecreased forCanada –British Columbia, Canada –Ontario,Canada – Quebec,Canada – Other,Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Solomon Islands.

No changes are made for the applied post indexes in other locations.

Clause 5 also adjusts the published index in the third column of Annex 15.2.A for 3locations with published indexes of less than 100. If the published index is less than 100 and was also less than 100 prior to this amendment, there is no effect on overseas living allowance, so benefits for members in that location remain unchanged.

Criteria are provided for the exercise of discretions under the Principal Determination, as amended by this Determination. Adverse decisions are subject to merits review under the ADF redress of grievance system, including an appeal to the Defence Force Ombudsman.

Authority: Section 58B of the
Defence Act 1903

Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights

Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011

Defence Determination 2014/13, Post indexes – amendment

This Determination is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.

Overview of the Determination

Human rights implications

Right to the enjoyment of just and favourable conditions of work

The protection of a person's right to remuneration engages Article 7 of the International Covenant onEconomic, Social and Cultural Rights. Article 7 guarantees just and favourable conditions of work,including remuneration, safe and healthy conditions, equal opportunity and reasonable limitations.

Legitimate objective: Defence members are posted to perform duty in overseas locations. This couldcause the member and their family economic hardship if the location has a high cost of living. Thepurpose of a post index is to show the relative cost of living at a posting location compared with Australia.This is then used to calculate various overseas allowances.

Reasonable, necessary and proportionate: This Determination adjusts the post indexes to ensure that anaffected person continues to receive just and favourable remuneration. The post indexes and associatedoverseas allowances assist the member and their family to not suffer a disadvantage because of the requirement for the member to live and work overseas.

This Determination also protects this right by simplifying the calculation behind a post index variation. This may assist people to better understand and apply benefits, and so they will be able to better assess the relative fairness and adequacy of their benefits.This could result in a slightly longer period elapsing before adjustment is made to an index but this is not seen as a major disadvantage.

Conclusion

This Determination is compatible with human rights because it does not limit any human rights.

Ingrid Cecilie Singh, Acting Director General People Policy and Employment Conditions