Frequently Asked Questions
1What about conflicts of interest and issues of probity?
One of the central issues that the VPP faces is Defence probity measures are both insufficient and excessive.
Currently, Veterans are prohibited from being engaged by Defence within 12 months of separation.*
The VPP is founded on the belief that most Veterans are too junior or far removed from developing contracts for this to be required.
On the other hand for senior members of the ADF and APS, 12 months is manifestly too short to safeguard probity in decision making.
The deed also prohibits APS/ADF members from being employed by a Defence vendor for a period of six months. This applies to all individuals regardless of their service type or conflicts of interest, from soldiers to generals.
A wavier can be sort in both occasions via a 1 star “Deputy Secretary CASG delegated representative” but only if the individual has an identified discharge date.
This is a process that penalises Corporals rather than Commodores. The former, who present no probity risk, do not have access to friendly 1 star. The latter, who are far more likely to be involved in decisions around projects and contracts generally do. More often they end up on a board or are deemed ‘not client facing’ meaning they can work for a Defence firm almost immediately.
This compounds issues for medically discharging veterans who often don’t get a discharge date for a significant time, leaving them in limbo – exiting the ADF but unable to work in Defence.
2Don’t the new Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines already allow entities to directly contract with Small and Medium Enterprise?
“Yes, but only for contracts worth $80,000 – $500,000 p.a. This largely excludes any services contract of 12 months or more duration for more than a single individual”.
3But Veterans can already get a waiver to work for the Department as soon as they get out?
“Actually, this is a catch-22. Waivers are generally only available for a specific role, which means that a Veteran must have already applied for it. They can only apply for a role if they have a discharge date. You can only get a discharge date if you have committed to discharging. However, tendering for a position is no guarantee you will win the work.
And so a Veteran can only get a waiver if they have committed to discharging but with no guarantee of work. This risk is worse for medically discharging Veterans who don’t get a discharge date until the very end of their process. This contributes to downward spirals in mental health as part of the transition process.
There is also risk for any firm that is bidding a Veteran in for work, if the discharge date is delayed or a waiver is not granted the firm can be liable.
Veterans are a risky proposition for any firm hoping to win Defence work.”
4A Question of Risk – What happens if the contractor gets sick or leaves, a small Veteran Business can’t possibly replace them as easily as the big firms can?
“The truth is, when it comes to national security the Commonwealth is always the risk owner. But consider the fact that most service delivery relies on the skills, knowledge and talent of the individual delivering the work. If they become unavailable there will be an inevitable delay while someone else comes ‘up to speed’ regardless of whether they work for a large or small firm. The difference is that a large firm will be contractually obliged to provide a replacement resource and have a commercial incentive to provide someone ‘on their bench’. Instead of getting the next best person, the Commonwealth gets the next available person in that major firm.
Conversely under the VPP if a small service provider was unable to complete the task the Commonwealth can immediately return to market to find the next best person, unconstrained by the original contract.”
5Services are a highly skilled area. This won’t help Corporals who don’t have an MBA or Leading Aircraftsmen without an IT degree.
Don’t be so sure. The ADF has an incredible pool of talent at all ranks. Moreover, most of the ‘tools’ that consultants use can be taught, it’s impossible for civilians to learn the first-hand ADF experience.
What is harder to train is the detailed, nuanced understanding of capability requirements and analysis, combined with the ethos and values imbued during a career of service.
6What about a panel for Veterans?
Very often in Government, panels are cumbersome, administration heavy and not conducive to achieving the best value for money.
A VPP, like the IPP is low administration by design, it fosters a faster mechanism to hire, retain and cease contracts for Government.
7Won’t this lead to Veterans being used as a convenience to win work?
The IPP has successfully been in place since July 2015 and has seemingly been able to avoid this.
Moreover, the VPP has much more ambitious ownership and participation percentages for Veterans than the IPP.
8Won't this policy will encourage more service members to ‘get out’ and leave Defence?
This policy will encourage more veterans to ‘stay in’. We need to understand our definition of ‘getting out’. Continuing to serve the nation in industry is still service.
Industry was made a Fundamental Input to Defence capability for a reason.
Moreover, Veterans are more likely to continue to serve in a different Service Category (i.e. Reserves) if they are working in the Defence environment and could return to full-time service with new and relevant skills.
And the alternative is more ‘Top Secret Real Estate Agents’. Click here to learn more about this Case Study.