C04/2013 No requirement for Continuous Full-Time Service (CFTS) in order to render Warlike and Non-Warlike Service under the MRCA and VEA

Replaces DI No.

Purpose

To clarify that there is no requirement for  a person to have rendered continuous full-time service (CFTS) in order for that service to be considered:

• warlike or non-warlike service under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA); and
• warlike (which gives rise to qualifying service) and non-warlike service under the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 (VEA).

This issue is particularly relevant for part-time reservists who have not been deployed on CFTS.

Background

Prior to the introduction of the current nature of service framework (whereby service is classified by Defence as peacetime, non-warlike or warlike) in the mid-1990s, the VEA required that Reservists be deployed on CFTS in order to have access to compensation coverage under the VEA. This was because before the concepts of warlike and non-warlike service were introduced to the VEA (and subsequently followed in the MRCA), the eligibility provisions for operational service for ADF members generally included the requirement to have rendered CFTS in an operational area. All WWII service required CFTS.

This means that in order to be covered under the VEA for service prior to the introduction of the warlike/non-warlike classifications, the relevant service generally must have been undertaken during a period of CFTS, with the exception of service covered by section 6DA of the VEA, which deals with minesweeping and bomb/mine clearance.

However, warlike and non-warlike service under the VEA and the MRCA do no — t require that the person rendered CFTS.

Legislation

Under the VEA, t — he definition of operational service – warlike and non-warlike service in section 6F do — es not require that the person have rendered CFTS. Similarly, where a person has a period of warlike or non-warlike service, t — he def — initions in the VEA of veteran in section 5C and eligible war service in section 7 do not require that the person have rendered CFTS if their eligibility is via warlike or non-warlike service.

Under the MRCA, service with the Defence Force may be characterised as either warlike, non-warlike or peacetime service. The definition of Defence Force in section 5 of the MRCA includes the Permanent Forces and the Reserves (either part-time or continuous full-time r — eservists).  Therefore, either type of r — eservist service can be warlike, non-warlike or peacetime service, provided all other requirements are met.

Service determinations

All m — embers of the Defence Force have coverage under the VEA and/or the MRCA (as applicable) during warlike or non-warlike service, without any requirement to be on CFTS.

The requirement to have served on CFTS continues to apply to all types of WWII service and post-WWII operational service under the VEA other than warlike and non-warlike service and minesweeping and bomb/mine clearance.

Contact

Please direct any querie — s on this issue to Kirrily Wasserman, Liability & Service Eligibility Policy Section on (07) 3223 8688.