EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1988 NO. 127
ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE
MINISTER FOR DEFENCE SCIENCE AND PERSONNEL
AUSTRALIAN MILITARY REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
The Australian Military Regulations, made under the Defence Act 1903, prescribe various matters relating to the organisation and administration of the Army.
The Defence Legislation Amendment Act 1987 (“the 1987 Act”) included amendments of the Defence Act 1903, the Naval Defence Act 1910 and the Air Force Act 1923 to enable the call out of the Reserve Forces in situations short of a declaration of a defence emergency to enable those forces to be available to meet low level contingencies. The 1987 Act also made amendments to provide, in relation to the Army and the Navy, a scheme under which soldiers and sailors may enlist, or have their periods of enlistment extended, until their retiring age (referred to herein as “open-ended enlistment” and “open-ended extension of service”). This scheme replaces the previous system under which enlisted members were required to enlist or re-engage for a specified period. (In the case of the Air Force, provisions corresponding to the new Navy and Army enlistment scheme were already contained in the Air Force Regulations.)
These amendments to the 1987 Act could not be proclaimed to commence until consequential amendments were made to regulations, including the Australian Military Regulations (“the Regulations”).
Australian Military Regulations (Amendment)
Regulation 3 amends regulation 76, consequent on amendments made to section 32 of the Defence Act 1903 by the 1987 Act, to empower the Governor-General or the Chief of the General Staff to transfer officers from one part of the Army to another, if they volunteer for transfer. By a related amendment a definition of “force” is inserted into the Regulations by regulation 2.
Regulation 4 repeals existing regulations relating to enlistment and re-engagement which are superseded by new sections 36 and 37 of the Defence Act 1903. It inserts a new regulation 135 which, with regulation 9, replaces detail about the oath of enlistment previously contained in the Defence Act 1903 and omitted from that Act by the 1987 Act.
Regulation 5 inserts a new regulation 143A, consequent on amendments made to sections 32 and 32A of the Defence Act 1903 by the 1987 Act, which empowers the Chief of the General Staff to transfer soldiers from one part of the Army to another, if they volunteer for transfer.
Regulation 6 inserts a new regulation 175, as a consequence of amendments made to section 39 of the Defence Act 1903 by the 1987 Act. Section 39 as amended deals with soldiers who are serving on an open-ended enlistment or an open-ended extension of service. Subsection 39(2) provides that, subject to certain exceptions (such as service in time of war), a soldier who is serving on an open-ended enlistment or open-ended extension of service has the right to claim discharge on giving the appropriate period of notice. Under subsection 39(3), this period is, in relation to members of the Australian Regular Army or the Regular Army Supplement, 12 months or such lesser period as the Chief of the General Staff determines having regard to such matters as are prescribed. New regulation 175 prescribes the matters that the Chief of the General Staff is to have regard to in setting a period less than 12 months.
Regulation 7 amends regulation 176. The amendment relates to paragraph 176(1)(g) which empowers the Chief of the General Staff to discharge a soldier on the ground of retrenchment. The amendment imposes restrictions on the use of this ground for discharge, in relation to soldiers of the Australian Regular Army serving on an open-ended enlistment or extension of service, so that the soldier has to be given 12 months notice and the retrenchment has to be in accordance with a plan issued by the Chief of the General Staff.
Regulation 8 amends certain references to the Defence Act 1903 to accord with amendments made to that Act by the 1987 Act.
Commencement
The Statutory Rule comes into operation on 1 July 1988, the date on which the remaining provisions of the 1987 Act will be proclaimed to commence.