Defence misleads the Australian Government in parliament

Defence continues to mislead the government, telling them there is no problem and that there are merely a few vacancies for doctors in the ADF. The misinformation most probably comes from Major General Paul Alexander, the head of ADF health, who has unbelievably just been awarded an AO for his work in defence health. Consider the following comments in the Senate after a question by Senator Fielding recorded in Hansard at: http://www.openaustralia.org/senate/?gid=2010-11-24.38.5 -

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

" I think the answer to the sorts of questions posed by Senator Fielding is, effectively, no. It is the case that we have some vacancies, as I understand it, for permanent medical officers, but this has not limited support to current operations or our international commitments. " and "The advice from Defence is that those numbers are sufficient to support the various operations, contingencies and activities"

Which does not reflect reality and is not what Defence was saying to the Defence Remuneration Tribunal a few months ago:

16 August 2010 DEFENCE FORCE REMUNERATION TRIBUNAL

MATTER No. 3 OF 2010

MEDICAL OFFICERS SPECIALIST CAREER STRUCTURE

REASONS FOR DECISION



"The ADF submitted that despite the introduction of the Medical Officers Specialist Career Structure (SOCS), the ADF Medical Officer workforce was experiencing acute shortfalls, with an associated negative impact on ADF capability. Significantly, remunerative bonus arrangements struck pursuant to s58B of the Defence Act have failed to substantially stabilise the workforce. "

Of interest here is that the increasing the money didn't make any difference. I have been consistently trying to help Defence recognise the causes of this problem - rude and denigrating behaviour, but they have consistently refused to investigate this since 2007 , despite the negative impact on ADF capability. It raises the question of whether the senior leadership of the ADF really care about the soldiers, sailors and airmen they command.  The tribunal goes on to report that:

"the MO workforce represent a significant to extreme risk to sustainable delivery of healthcare capability "

and

"The ADF submitted that all three Services have reported shortages in the number of Medical Officers and difficulty in retention past Return of Service Obligation (ROSO). The consistent theme from all parties was that the three Services have significant shortages that create extreme difficulty in their ability to fill positions to meet operational commitments. "

and

"Captain Elizabeth Rushbrook, RAN, the Director of Navy Health, gave evidence on the critical shortage of MO in all three Services which are having an adverse effect on operational capability. "

It can be clearly seen that Defence is misleading the Australian Government about my concerns and the critical shortage of Medical Officers.