Pay structures a) General grades (see annex 1 in booklet P-0824)
Pay structures. The DFRT undertook its own comprehensive review of the ADF remuneration structure of salaries and allowances in the first half of the 1990s, called the Pay Structure Review (PSR). The PSR resulted in a revised pay structure for ‘other ranks’ implemented in 1995. The main changes in the new structure were new margins, both among the trade-based pay groups and between the ranks, as well as the amalgamation of the two lower pay levels and the introduction of a new highest pay group. New mechanisms were also established to guide placement in the pay grades, including a definitional framework describing work value for each pay grade and benchmark employment categories against which others could be compared for placement purposes. The Remuneration Reform Project (RRP) included arguably the most significant change to officer remuneration since the Second World War. It introduced a graded salary structure for officers that remunerated progression in professional skills and abilities as well as rank level. Prior to that, rank level was the primary determinant of salary, although an array of other compensation mechanisms formed part of the remuneration framework governed by the DFRT. There were a number of very large occupation-specific allowances that were ongoing, namely those involving large payments relative to salary and which were designed to recognise particular qualifications and skills and, to an extent, combat attraction and retention challenges associated with these particular occupations. There were also specific salary structures established for particular professions: legal officers, dental and medical officers and chaplains. A level of pay dispersion already existed at rank level across the officer workforce, but this involved addressing issues in a piecemeal way rather than as part of a comprehensive pay structure. A key reform of the RRP was the introduction of a graded pay structure for officers in place of the common scale. The graded structure allowed for pay differentiation among officers within rank levels to recognise varying levels of work value. The Federal Government adopted the recommendation of the Xxxx Review that, “A new flexible salary structure for officers be adopted which encompasses rolling in the ongoing qualifications and skills element of the major environmental allowances to create continuous salary bands at each rank level, thereby providing the opportunity for the Service Chiefs to move away from the officers’ common scale, s...
