THE HON. GREG COMBET MP
Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
013/2010
ADF PAYROLL AND PAY SYSTEM REFORM
Greg Combet, Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science, today
announced the immediate establishment of a high powered Australian
Defence Force (ADF) Payroll Task Force and number of initiatives to
accelerate reform of the ADF Payroll and Pay System.
“There is no doubt the ADF payroll system still needs remedial work. These
ten measures are aimed at rectifying current deficiencies,” Mr Combet said.
“The Task Force will drive the ongoing reform of the ADF pay and personnel
processes, and report to Ministers on a monthly basis. In keeping with the
Strategic Reform Program, this will include the consolidation of all military
payroll processing under one area of responsibility within 18 months.”
Over the next three months the Government and Defence will:
Immediately establish a Task Force for ADF Payroll and Pay System
Reform to be co-chaired by Vice Chief of the Defence Force,
Lieutenant General David Hurley, and Deputy Secretary (Defence
Support), Mr Martin Bowles;
Review and report on the adequacy of existing payroll procedures and
compliance with them;
Create a small specialist deployed civilian payroll administration cell
that will drive consistency between the in-theatre and in-country payroll
processing;
Undertake quality assurance checks of International Campaign
Allowance payments;
Promote a common customer access channel including the
1800 DEFENCE number for members and their families to contact
about pay related issues;
Review the entire process for payment of deployed allowances and put
in place revised checks and balances to ensure members are paid
correctly;
Enhance quality assurance processes that provide greater focus on
control, supervision and checking of personnel data from local
commander to the transactional processing area;
Widen the current performance management regime to include control
and compliance reporting on payment of ADF allowances;
Develop a systematic forward looking Audit program to support the
controls and compliance reporting around payroll processing; and
Issue further official advice outlining the steps being put in place to
improve the payroll system. This advice will also emphasise the
obligation of personnel to meet their responsibilities on payroll matters
including review of payslips and notification of errors as soon as
possible.
The Task Force will be responsible for oversight of these initiatives and the
achievement of greater integrity and accuracy in the ADF Pay and Personnel
processes.
“The initial steps of the Task Force will include remediating pay issues that
arise for individual ADF members, including the recent overpayment of the
International Campaign Allowance,” Mr Combet said.
“Additionally, the Government has endorsed a long term plan which would
replace Defence’s current three pay systems with a more modern personnel
ICT system.
“This will result in complex transactions and manual processing being
undertaken by one central authority, not fragmented as is currently the case.
“Defence have already embarked upon a “technical refresh” of the current
human resource and payroll system. This refresh will upgrade the technology
and provide a modern platform that will stabilise the current system and
prepare for the development of a robust payroll system of the future.
“It is important Government and ADF members can have confidence in the
integrity of pay and personnel processes.
“Continuing problems in the area of pay for the ADF are unacceptable to the
Government. It is also unacceptable to the individuals and their families who
are paid incorrectly, and who are required to enter into repayment
arrangements.
“The Government understands that the volume of manual transactions, which
last year amounted to over 3 million, means human error is always a
possibility. But the number of incorrect payments is unacceptable,” Mr Combet
said.
Media contacts:
Rod Hilton (Greg Combet):
02 6277 7620 or 0458 276 619
Defence Media Liaison:
02 6127 1999 or 0408 498 664
NEWS 
