Australian Army Journal

ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE
From Institution to Occupation:
Australian Army Culture in Transition
Twenty-five years on, and star rank officers appear to be more comfortable with the
higher rates of pay with individual contracts and salary packaging which includes
a car and mobile phone as fringe benefits. 20 On the other hand, like any high-level
executives in the corporate world, star rank officers’ employment tenure is subject
to termination at short notice.
Military collectivism
The development of military industrial relations in Australia has also seen the rise
of collectivism. Former Army officer Graham Pratt noted that collectivism can
embrace all types of employee groupings formed to protect the interests of their
members. 21 Military industrial relations range from the use of quasi trade unions
with the right to undertake industrial action to associations formed for consultative
and lobby purposes such as the RSL. The formation of the Armed Forces
Federation of Australia (ArFFA) in 1984 was related to the then ADF wage freeze,
perceived erosion in conditions, and dissatisfaction with existing procedures.
While acceptance of ‘soft’ collectivism such as lobbying was widely supported,
‘hard’ industrial action, such as the withdrawal of labour, was not. This would seem
to indicate a limited acceptance of an occupational outlook, while at the same time
holding the line on institutional values.
ArFFA, although small in membership (reportedly around 3000) was widely
supported in spirit by the ADF, significantly by the officer corps, and tacitly by the
military hierarchy. It had observer status at DFRT hearings and a regular column
in official service newspapers. It boasted some of the advantages of a trade union
in that it could publicly criticise government policy and directly lobby members
of parliament in contravention of the non-partisan, apolitical and institutional
tradition of the military. ArFFA specifically refused, however, to use the withdrawal
of labour as a means of industrial negotiation. Despite the appointment in 2002
of a prominent figure as patron (Dr Tom Frame, former naval officer, author and
Anglican Bishop to the ADF), ArFFA ceased operations in 2006.
In part, the demise of ArFFA was also due to the establishment of the DFRT which
had an immediate and positive impact on remuneration. 22 With the establishment
of the DFRT an intellectual and legal rigour was introduced to the process which
had been previously absent. The decisions made were well documented and
transparent in their logic. They also enabled military personnel to access standard
Australian wage fixing principles and yet also have their own separate tribunal.
It should be noted that despite, or perhaps because of the existence of ArFFA,
Australian Army Journal
Culture edition 2013, Volume X, Number 3 Page 195