Govt reveals SAS pay bungle details

A total of 102 special forces (SF) soldiers had money deducted from their pay with
more than $112,000 recovered in total, the inquiry into the Special Air Service
Regiment (SASR) pay bungle has revealed.
The most taken from any single soldier in one pay period was $1,743.29, the report
by audit firm KPMG, says.
The report, commissioned by Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon, was released on
Tuesday afternoon.
The recovery action continued past October 22 last year when Mr Fitzgibbon directed
all recovery action to cease.
Eleven soldiers had a total of $14,663.50 deducted in the period October 27 to March
5 but all recovery action had now ceased.
The maximum debt of any one soldier amounted to $13,298.
KPMG said three soldiers received pay slips showing zero pay.
"In fact, all SF members received monies related to their existing deduction
arrangements as well as advanced to cover any calculated shortfall in other
adjustments," it said.
The row surfaced last October when it emerged some SASR soldiers faced computer pay
system-instigated recovery action for debts amounting to thousands of dollars.
That stemmed from pay determinations by the Defence Force Remuneration Tribunal that
came into effect last August, rolling previously separate special forces competency
allowances into salaries.
But some personnel files did not record actual qualifications while other soldiers
were paid for competencies they had not attained.
That was compounded by Defence's antiquated pay system, with payroll and special
forces qualifications run on two separate computer systems.
KPMG said the problems stemmed from a variety of causes - a complex pay
determination process reminiscent of industrial award arrangements of decades past,
a complex pay and allowance structure, and ageing computer systems.
It said there were contributing factors, including Defence's failure to seek a
requirement in the Defence Force Remuneration Tribunal determination that no person
be adversely impacted.
"In summary the problems associated with the implementation of this determination
would have been avoided if either retrospectivity had not been applied or
grandfathering or existing arrangements had been pursued," it said.
KPMG said the problems in sorting out the ensuing mess stemmed from a number of
causes, including the lack of an initial coordinated response, lack of an ability
within the pay system to report on Special Forces members affected by a pay
determination, and lack of skills and deep knowledge among those tasked with
remediation.
Defence said it accepted KPMG's five recommendations to ensure no recurrence and to
improve pay systems.
"We see these recommendations as complementing the minister's broader reform
program, which the Chief of Defence Force and I have been working so hard to help to
develop and secure," defence department secretary Nick Warner said in a statement.
Initial reforms to centralise the pay system will take about a year.
Comprehensive reforms to simplify the allowance structures and pay systems and
improve computer systems could be achieved over a period of three to five years.
Earlier, Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull said Mr Fitzgibbon had "sadly and
incompetently" mismanaged the issue and again called for him to be sacked.
"Mr Fitzgibbon has been completely unable to give parliament any explanation for the
bungle, despite having promised many times to fix it up," Mr Turnbull told
reporters.
"It's just one example of his incompetence and why he should no longer be Australian
defence minister."