Review into the treatment of women at the Australian Defence Force ...

In terms of the purpose, until this year I’ve never heard anyone actually say the purpose of ADFAis number one, to get your degree, and number two, to get a tri service military education…butstaff this year have been mentioning that kind of thing, like, this is why you’re actually here. 23However, the following comments are more typical of the responses the Audit received:Depends who you ask… [you’ll get a] completely different answer…They say the academicsare more important here, but I’d say the military is more important from staff’s perspective.The majority of us know the AMET training we get here isn’t anywhere near up to the calibre itprobably should be at the moment, so a lot of us just see this as a university and we see themore military training side is in our Single Service Training [SST] programme. I know for me, mySST work experience is much more beneficial than the AMET. 24Well, we sort of understand the role of it. I mean sometimes you lose track of it I suppose. ADFAseems like it’s sort of separated from the actual Defence Force and people lose track. 25(ADFA) struggles between deciding whether this is a uni or whether this is a military trainingestablishment…it’s really hard to balance it. 26As at the time of the initial Review, the primary tension identified was the different needs andperspectives of each of the three Services.Is the role and purpose of ADFA clear? I think each Service has a slightly different idea. I thinkit’s not always clear, even when we look down at how the Services run their individual trainingblocks. 27[I agree with] ADFA’s role as an academic institution, yes. ADFA’s role as a military institution?Maybe. I’d caveat that by saying that all three Services have got different requirements for theofficers ADFA produces. 28I think there’s still some haziness around what we are here to achieve. It’s never as clear as I thinkthe single Service colleges, which have a very clear idea of what they’re trying to achieve. 29It appears that the individual Services continue to value their single Service model over the tri-Servicemodel. This is evident in the downgrading of the Review’s Recommendation from ‘ADFA’s pre-eminentrole’ to ‘ADFA as the premier tri-Service military and training establishment in Australia.’ 30Each Service continues to compare ADFA to its own Officer training establishment. However, ADFAprovides a different environment and the opportunity for a different outcome.The Audit acknowledges that these changes may take time. However, clarifying and consistentlycommunicating ADFA’s role and purpose and the value of the tri-Service environment is an essential firststep in realising the intent of these recommendations.Communications PlanThe Audit received a very detailed, comprehensive Communication Plan from the RIT. 31 The Plandemonstrates clear evidence that ADFA is moving toward taking a more proactive stance in itsmessaging, is actively seeking varied opportunities to promote the benefits of an ADFA education andis positively communicating the reform program. The Plan clearly identifies goals, objectives, risksand strategies and provides talking points on each of the Review’s major recommendations. The Plananalyses each recommendation, details actions, target audiences, timing, coordination and establishesa priority for each item. Status is monitored and updated regularly.Audit Report: Review into the Treatment of Women at the Australian Defence Force Academy • 2013 • 29