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ANGLICAN |
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ANGLICAN |
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Overview |
Becoming a Chaplain To become an Anglican ADF chaplain, applicants need to: * have fulfilled the Australian bishops’ minimum requirements for ordination to the priesthood * spend a minimum period of two years after ordination to the priesthood in parish ministry * be priests in good standing within their diocese * be Australian citizens * be aged under 57 years on completion of recruiting * be healthy and physically fit * be emotionally able to cope with the rigours of ADF life. A chaplain needs to be an adaptable and resourceful person who can communicate well and with many different people and show genuine pastoral concern for their needs. Chaplains have to be self-starters who can provide leadership and work well in teams consisting of clergy from other Christian denominations.
Conditions of ServiceChaplains are commissioned officers and are employed by the ADF as specialists on a professional salary. The ruling of the Defence Force Remuneration Tribunal (DFRT) on the Chaplains’ Career and Salary Case in December 2002 resulted in a substantial (approx. 22 per cent) salary increase for Division 1 and 2 Chaplains (Captain and Major equivalents). The DFRT’s ruling has gone a long way towards minimising any deficit between ADF salaries and full-time stipends and provides opportunities for chaplains to extend their vocational competence through a Defence-sponsored post-graduate Masters program. Chaplains additionally receive superannuation, free medical and dental care, continuing in-service education and vocational development, and management training. They are expected to serve for an initial period of at least three years. The compulsory retiring age for full-time chaplains is 60 years. Detailed conditions of service are available from the Service Archdeacons.
Long Service Leave (LSL)Those clergy wanting to become ADF chaplains should clarify the status of their LSL entitlements. The following is a brief prepared after consultations in 2002 with Anglican Superannuation Australia and the Long Service Leave Board. LSL accrual for clergy is at the behest of their diocesan bishop. In theory a diocesan bishop could maintain a chaplain on the payroll for LSL purposes as long as contributions continue to be paid. However, clergy or chaplains cannot qualify for LSL from both the Government and the Church at the same time. As the Commonwealth covers its employees for LSL, diocesan bishops would not be able to continue to make LSL contributions. Any qualifying service accrued prior to entering ADF Chaplaincy is normally maintained with the chaplain held in a suspended category. When chaplains resume work for the Anglican Church and are sponsored by a diocesan bishop their qualifying service resumes. If, however, clergy have more than ten years qualifying service accrued on entry into ADF Chaplaincy, the Government has made it compulsory for the chaplain to be paid a pro rata benefit as an after tax lump sum once the contributions have ceased. This benefit can be used by chaplains to buy back LSL qualifying service when they return to the Church provided the bishop of the diocese to which they are returning agrees to such an arrangement. If chaplains receive a LSL payout from the Government they can also use these monies to buy back LSL from the fund again provided the bishop of the diocese agrees. It must be understood that the LSL provisions are an arrangement between the diocesan bishop and the fund, and that there is no individual membership of the fund. Chaplains have no equity or ownership of the fund until they reach ten years’ qualifying service.
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