Contemporary narratives of ADF families focus on the sacrifices families make, the support they provide ADF members, and the role that plays in defence capability. After decades of peace, followed by wars on foreign shores, the “homefront” has become narrowly defined as the homes of ADF families. However, during times of war and other national … More Partner employment and national security
This blog post forms part of a series in which I document the history of partner employment advocacy and support in Australia The Prime Minister’s Veterans’ Employment Awards formed part of the VEP and were launched in September 2017. The inaugural awards took place in March 2018. Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Darren Chester, said that … More The VEP and partner employment (Part 2) – the awards
This blog post forms part of a series in which I document the history of partner employment advocacy and support in Australia “In 2017 the Prime Minister of Australia established the Industry Advisory Committee on Veterans’ Employment which included the identification of ADF spouse employment as one of five priority areas” – Churchill Fellowship Report, … More The Veteran Employment Program (VEP) & partner employment (Part 1)
An interesting discussion took place this week. As I understood it correctly the point was made that retention of veteran and partner employees should not be a metric for being a supportive employer. Whilst I agree that it is certainly not the only metric, that it isn’t always possible to retain a partner, and that … More Retaining defence partner employees is important – the evidence says so
The Beginning In 1985, Sue Hamilton, an executive in the Office of the Status of Women, was tasked by the Defence Minister, the Hon Kim Beazley AC, to investigate the impact of service life on families, identify problems and deliver practical suggestions for solving them. The report, officially known as “Supporting Service Families” but more … More Department of Defence Support for partner employment: a history lesson
Last month I travelled to Washington DC to attend the 9th annual Military Spouse Employment Summit hosted by Hiring Our Heroes at the US Chamber of Commerce. It is always inspiring and invigorating to be surrounded by the Hiring Our Heroes team and their network of supportive employers. It makes me feel like things can … More Hiring Our Heroes Military Spouse Employment Summit
I often use the word employment but it’s not really partner employment I’m interested in – it’s partner career development. It’s understanding and helping people make decisions about their career, and making the context they are making those decisions in as just as possible. And by career I mean the journey through work, learning and … More Partner career development; it’s about paid and unpaid work and career life roles
This article originally appeared on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/partner-employment-military-civilian-transition-amanda-mccue-cf/ Employment is a key feature of military transition programs. Here in Australia we have job search preparation workshops, coaching, supportive employer programs and even an employment awards program at the highest level of government. There is broad understanding that employment is an essential part of veteran wellbeing. According … More Partner employment and military to civilian transition
When it comes to families we generally don’t think that the rank of the member matters. And family support initiatives are tri-service (or purple) in their approach. But when it comes to partner careers it’s more nuanced than that. Because careers are where personal factors meet contextual ones. For ADF partners these contextual factors include where and how much our ADF members work, and how much of the unpaid family work we’re performing as a result. So it’s with interest that I look at the data from the 2019 Defence Census to find out how the ADF workforce is working in terms of service, rank and gender, and what implications it has for partner employment. … More Rank, gender and working arrangements of ADF members: results from the Defence Census and implications for partner employment
The intent and the content of current partner employment programs raises some interesting questions about what partner employment support in Australia should look like. I’m a big fan of the current Partner Employment Assistance Program (PEAP) but I have written before about how and why it is not enough on its own. What I find … More The confusing message of ADF partner employment support
