DFRDB

By Ken Stone

Hi Superannuants,

I have been awaiting the election outcomes before remitting another update, so here it is now.

With a new Government the time has arrived to restate our case so shown below are the recent mailouts to the new PM, Minister for VA and his Shadow, Barnaby Joyce. These are not attached because of the emailing issues with multiple enclosures being attached and then being rejected as SPAM!

Still have not heard any final outcomes from the Court Hearing on Commutation.

Kind Regards

Ken

6 June 2022

The Hon. Anthony Albanese MP

Prime Minister

Australian Parliament House

Canberra, ACT 2600

Dear Prime Minister,

LONG-SERVING VETERANS – SUPERANNUATION

Firstly, please accept congratulations on your successful election to Government and your appointment as Prime Minister, on behalf those I represent, as an Advocate of the DFRDB Commutation Campaign.

I now right to seek an independent review of the DFRDB Commutation issue that has affected Veterans over the past five-decades and continues to reduce the Retirement Pay of the 55,000 long-serving DFRDB superannuants affected by this issue, as compulsory contributors to this mandated Government compensation scheme.

This is an issue brought to bear on this Veteran cohort purely by the administrative ineptitude of the AGROBO DFRDB Board, CSC, and the Department of Defence.

You are probably aware of our four-year campaign on this matter, that eventuated in a report from the Ombudsman and a reiteration of his findings by the Senate FADT Reference Committee.

The Ombudsman’s findings were at total odds with the facts of the matter, that affected Veterans were never formally advised by the DFRDB Authority, until some thirty years after the fact. These facts being the enabling policy interpretation the Authority made, regarding the DFRDB Legislation. This, despite the incontestable fact of their failed communications about DFRDB Commutation to contributors and their administrative ineptitude.

However, the Ombudsman, without criticising his APS bureaucratic colleagues or establishing the guilt of their mal-administration, found the Department of Defence guilty of mal-administration and the proliferation of false misinformation.

The Ombudsman elicited a formal apology from the Secretary of Defence and the Chief of the Defence Force. However, he recommended to Defence that no recompense to the 55,000 affected Veterans be made, other than to suggest that Defence conduct a Compensation Process.  After that, some 68-submissions were made and all were summarily dismissed by Defence, in entirety, by that organisation. A pointless imposition on affected Veterans, which certainly puts the lie to the previous Government’s long flouted Veterans Covenant, that stands for naught particularly, ‘A Fair Go’.

The Ombudsman received the highest number of submissions ever recorded to his Independent (?) Inquiry into the DFRDB Commutation Issue – some 3,400. This followed an electronic Lower House Petition with 3,500 registrations from Veterans – their partners precluded, because of unreasonable policy restrictions placed on the email process.

The Ombudsman went on to conduct a flawed Investigation into the matter based totally upon the misconstrued evidence of financial benefits supposedly accrued by recipients of the Lump Sum, concocted by inappropriate financial modelling by inhouse Actuaries and subcontractors. Under the legislation, DFRDB Commutation was offered to Veterans in compensation for the disadvantage of Service in acquiring a home, occupational qualifications or business opportunity.

DFRDB Commutation was never intended to be a get-rich opportunity for Veterans through financial investment, as suggested by the Ombudsman!  Furthermore, the modelling failed to account for any detrimental outcomes over thirty-years for occurrences such as Stock Market Crashes and the rorting of superannuation investments as determined by the Financial Services Royal Commission.

The Ombudsman’s spurious report has been the ‘millstone’ upon which fair and just treatment of Veterans has floundered, having completely undermined and obfuscated fair judgement of all appeals after its release. This can be readily determined by the Senate Reference Committee, having ignored completely the facts of the matter as stated in their primary Criteria, that being: Veterans were not properly informed on the DFRDB Commutation Policy. The Senate Reference Committee findings were nothing more than verbatim statements, taken directly from the Ombudsman’s Report. The Committee failed to address the DFRDBA communications failure, in not advising compulsory contributors to the scheme, about the financial impost on future Retirement Pay, even after the full restoration of their pre-payment of benefits, back to the Commonwealth.

Prime Minister, I prevail upon you to revisit this issue from the perspective of the affected Veterans with Fresh Eyes. Eyes that are not just focussed on the exoneration of Commonwealth from the ineptitude of its bureaucracies. I enclose a Summary of Evidence detailing progressively the issues circumventing a fair and proper outcome of our claims.

As a cohort of 55,000 individuals, without the benefit of single voice, as a Union-less group by Defence-decree, we seek your support and independent revised-action on our behalf, as a voice of reason.

Yours sincerely,

Ken Stone

Wing Commander Retd.

Independent Advocate

DFRDB Commutation Campaign

3 Lerra Street

Jerrabomberra NSW 2619

Enclosure – Summary of Evidence

7 June 2022

The Hon. Barnaby Joyce MP

Shadow Minister for Veterans Affairs

Australian Parliament House

Canberra, ACT 2600

Dear Mr Joyce,

LONG-SERVING VETERANS – SUPERANNUATION

On behalf those I represent, as an Advocate of the DFRDB Commutation Campaign, we are delighted to now be represented, albeit in a Shadow role by someone of your ilk as a politician with demonstrated passion for the portfolios you have so ably filled. Your accounting and financial expertise, was certainly missing from the acumen of those of your Party, previously representing Veterans within the Parliament. As a Veteran yourself, you inspire confidence that you will represent our issues with understanding, empathy and vigour and, although possibly a retrograde appointment for you, we welcome you wholeheartedly to hold the new Government accountable on Veteran issues.

We have recently appealed to the Minister for Veterans Affairs and the Prime Minister for an independent review of the DFRDB Commutation issue that has affected Veterans over the past five-decades and continues to reduce the Retirement Pay of the 55,000 long-serving DFRDB affected superannuants by financial detriment, as compulsory contributors to this mandated Government compensation scheme.

This is an issue brought to bear on this Veteran cohort purely by the administrative ineptitude of the AGROBO DFRDB Board, CSC, and the Department of Defence.

You are probably aware of our four-year campaign on this matter, that eventuated in a report from the Ombudsman and a reiteration of his findings by the Senate FADT Reference Committee.

The Ombudsman’s findings were at total odds with the facts of the matter, that affected- Veterans were never formally advised of the policy conditions of Commutation by the DFRDB Authority, until some thirty years after the DFRDB superannuation Scheme was introduced. These facts being, the enabling policy interpretation the Authority made, regarding the DFRDB Legislation. This, despite the incontestable fact of their failed communications about DFRDB Commutation never delivered to contributors and their administrative ineptitude.

However, the Ombudsman, without criticising his APS bureaucratic colleagues or establishing the guilt of their mal-administration, found the Department of Defence guilty of mal-administration and the proliferation of false misinformation in its dealings with ADF personnel that contributed to the DFRDB Scheme.

The Ombudsman elicited a formal apology from the Secretary of Defence and the Chief of the Defence Force. However, he recommended to Defence that no recompense to affected Veterans be made, other than to suggest that Defence conduct a Compensation Process.  After that, some 68-submissions were made and all were summarily dismissed by Defence, in entirety, by that organisation. A pointless administrative imposition on affected-Veterans, which certainly puts the lie to the previous Government’s long flouted Veterans’ Covenant, that stands for naught, particularly, ‘A Fair Go’.

The Ombudsman received the highest number of submissions ever recorded to his Independent (?) Inquiry into the DFRDB Commutation Issue – some 3,400. This followed an electronic Lower House Petition with 3,500 registrations from Veterans – their partners precluded, because of unreasonable policy restrictions placed on the email process.

The Ombudsman went on to conduct a flawed Investigation into the matter based totally upon the misconstrued evidence of financial benefits supposedly accrued by recipients of the Lump Sum. This being concocted by inappropriate financial modelling by inhouse Actuaries and subcontractors. Under the legislation, DFRDB Commutation was offered to Veterans in compensation for the disadvantage of Service in acquiring a home, occupational qualifications or business opportunity, during their ADF Service.

DFRDB Commutation was never intended to be a get-rich opportunity for Veterans through financial investment, as suggested by the Ombudsman!  Furthermore, the modelling failed to account for any detrimental outcomes over thirty-years for occurrences such as Stock Market Crashes and the rorting of superannuation investments as determined by the Financial Services Royal Commission.

The Ombudsman’s spurious report has been the ‘millstone’ upon which fair and just treatment of Veterans has floundered, having completely undermined and obfuscated fair judgement of all appeals after its release. This can be readily determined by the Senate FADT Reference Committee, having ignored completely the facts of the matter as stated in their primary Criteria, that being: Veterans were not properly informed on the DFRDB Commutation Policy.

The Senate Reference Committee findings were nothing more than verbatim statements, taken directly from the Ombudsman’s Report. The Committee failed to address the DFRDBA communications failure, in not advising compulsory contributors to the scheme about the financial impost on future Retirement Pay, even after the full restoration of their pre-payment of benefits, back to the Commonwealth.

Mr Joyce, I now prevail upon you to revisit this issue from the perspective of the affected Veterans with Fresh Eyes. Eyes that are not just focussed on the exoneration of Commonwealth from the ineptitude of its bureaucracies. I enclose a Summary of Evidence detailing progressively the issues circumventing a fair and proper outcome of our claims.

As a cohort of 55,000 affected Veterans, we now seek your support and independent revised-action on our behalf, to persuade the new Government to revisit our issue, and as a voice of reason.

I would be happy to meet and discuss this matter with you as I have previously done with your party colleague, The Hon. Llew O’Brien MP who supported our claims so helpfully.

Yours sincerely,

Ken Stone

Wing Commander Retd.

Independent Advocate

DFRDB Commutation Campaign

3 Lerra Street

Jerrabomberra NSW 2619

Enclosure – Summary of Evidence

DFRDB-COMMUTATION

Summary

• 55,000 Long- Serving DFRDB Veteran Superannuants were duped into accepting a lump sum commutation by the CSC and the DFRDB Authority (DFRDBA).

• The term COMMUTATION was NOT defined in the DFRDB Act or any documentation produced by the DFRDBA from the outset.
•  The DFRDBA adopted a ‘legalese’ interpretation of the term COMMUTATION known only to legal, financial, and accounting experts, without revealing this.
•  Their vernacular of the term COMMUTATION was outside the understanding of the common man as well as Military veteran superannuants. Even the highest of ADF Officers were deceived by this terminology.
•   The DFRDB Authority inveigled Veteran Superannuants into accepting the proffered lump sum.
•  By Exclusionary Detailing, the DFRDBA failed to advise the CONDITIONS of accepting a Lump Sum.
•  Veteran Superannuants understood the Lump Sum was to be repaid to the Commonwealth.
•  As the lump sum was calculated on Notional Life Expectancy (NLE), and by not being informed differently, Veteran Superannuants concluded their reimbursement would expire at their personal NLE point.
•  After reaching the Veteran’s NLE point the DFRDBA continued to extract repayments by Direct Debit and failed to return the Veterans’ Superannuation pay to pre-commutation value.
•  Each of the affected Long-Serving Veteran Superannuants is contributing Thousands of Dollars annually into reimbursing the Commonwealth, amounting to HUNDREDS of MILLIONS of DOLLARS each year.
•   Each veteran’s reimbursement has been incremented multiple-times since they accepted COMMUTATION, without their fore-knowledge, because they were never advised.
•  Repayments by Veterans were under the legislation and DFRDBA guidelines should have been made at the finite amount of the original calculation involving NLE data.
•  The NLE data was 11 years out of date in 1972 but continued to be applied throughout the life of the scheme.

• The use of this data, that didn’t account for increase in longevity, reduced the repayment period to NLE and therefore increased the repayment quantum that resulted from the calculations, imposing further financial disadvantage to veterans.

 ·         In response to the estimated thousands of complaints to the Ministers’ of Veterans Affairs, the DFRDB Authority has misled their Ministers’ answering of these complaints, by advising them the Veterans were fully aware of the imposition of a LIFE-TERM under the CONDITIONS they accepted the Lump Sum –  knowing full-well that these CONDITIONS were never revealed, until 35-Years after the Scheme’s commencement in 1973.

•  The DFRDB Authority has failed to provide Veterans with an annual Statement of Accounts to advise what the annual incrementation of reimbursement deductions have been.
•  Many thousands of Veterans continue to be UNAWARE of how much they are annually sacrificing to the DFRDBA, and furthermore, that their contribution have never been returned to pre-COMMUTATION VALUE.
• DFRDBA’s deceptions have been perpetuated by the Ministerial-correspondence process.
• The absence of proper investigation of Complaints by auditing authorities, turns a blind-eye to Commercial Best Practice auditing procedures by the Commonwealth.