Bex - The first I heard of it was on your facebook! We don't have even $1 to spare let alone $40! And our house is sub standard too, we have spiders, broken stove, broken oven, broken shower heads, not to mention its just not enough space! Plus the ridiculous damn fence that actually makes our house inadequate but they refuse to admit it! DH is going to check his upcoming pay slip and go to his CO who happens to be the highest ranking man at Lavarack (he made buddy buddy with him when he was duty driver the other week, and CO said if we have any more problems bring it straight to him. He's learning how to schmooze I was so proud hehe).
Hehe, schmoozing definitely a part of life if you want to get on in the ADF...
BTW, if you have requested repairs to essential things like taps, stoves, fences, and they are not forthcoming, you can contact the DHA head office (in Melb I think). They will put a bomb up inferior regional service. (I say this on account of the leaking roof that would take weeks every year to get repaired in Darwin. One cranky letter to melbourne and it was done within a week). It also might help to get familiar with your state's tenancy laws, as DHA is still required to meet those standards too.
Mrs B, I think there's an endemic failure to recognise how inadequate a single defence income is, esp @ the lower ranks. My DH has had a number of pay rises and promotions (including their whole mustering being awarded a new pay stream) and still only barely sitting on the average Australian wage. WTF? And yet we're expected to drag our sorry asses across the country and he has to jump anytime they click their fingers, and don't get me started on their failure to recompense all the time he works outside of standard hours and never gets a crumb of short leave in return.
ETA - make the ridiculous fence about your soon-to-be-born baby and not about your rottweiler and they might do something about it .
I'll ring SIL and see if she can give us any advice she works in property and might know someone up here who's familiar with the local law. I have made the fence about the babies AND the dog, AND the other battery members making derogatory comments about when I have my knickers on the airer under the patio, AND the school kids throwing their litter over it, AND the mum who came complaining to me about me walking around my own house in my underwear and her peeping ten year old seeing me and STILL nothing. I'm getting to the point that I'm sending them weekly emails with lists of all the **** thats been going on hoping that the squeaky wheel will get the attention.
With the rent thing though...I do know some people in some extremely high places in the civil liberties/human rights field, I'm wondering if it might be time to cash in family ties for favours because its just so unfair! You can't raise peoples rent without notice whether you're a government organisation or not!
You need to find out who the person is who is your rental manager (yes there will be one person who's job it is to look after your property). Once yuo have their name and number, ring them, make it their problem to get it resolved for you. ESPECIALLY now that the rent is going up.
And notice doesnt count by putting online cause my dh doesnt get access to computers to just go browse!
It is crap. As an av tech IRL dh would be on at least $100k a year with boeing or something!!!! Yet we get under $60k a year for 2 adults abd a baby. For some people that os a lot but for most it is not! And cl says we earn too much to help us more, and as you said, we get dragged aroubd the country, away from our families and friends, away from the familiar, put into sh*tty houses where it takes 5 months to fix the god damn windows that wont open (still broken) and now we have to pay almost the same amount as someone ranked higher (who gets paid a crap load more) in a better house!!!
Sent from my iPhone so sorry for the spelling and punctuation!!
Yeah our case manager is really nice, she's trying to get us relocated but its the ***** in the relocation assessment team thats the problem. I email her constantly and Bcc in our CM, but so far its not got me very far. The CM has even put in a complaint about her on our behalf and still nothing! I sent another email this morning and attached a million technical auto receipts and encryptions in it, and I KNOW she's received it, and read it, but she didn't send me the optional read receipt. I forwarded the receipts I have that she doesn't know about onto our CM. I'm pretty tempted to forward them to her too and jsut be like, 'Oh, by the way, I know you're ignoring me.'
If the rent increase meant better service and better quality of housing, fine but it wont, so I'm taking this biatch down.
EDIT: I found some basic tenancy stuff for all states and territories:
QLD: Increase only if specified in tenancy agreement.
Agreement must state the amount of the increase or the method for calculating.
2 months notice. Must be at least 6 months since last increase. *Notice in Qld MUST be in writing according to the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008*
NT:Increase only if specified in tenancy agreement.
Agreement must state the amount of the increase or the method for calculating.
No sooner than 6 months from start of tenancy or date of last increase.
30 days notice.
NSW: You can increase the rent for fixed terms over 2 years without needing to specify in the agreement
60 days notice.
ACT: Not in first 12 months then only once per year for existing tenant.
8 weeks notice.
VIC: Increase only if specified in tenancy agreement.
Agreement must state the amount of the increase or the method for calculating.
No sooner than 6 months from start of tenancy or date of last increase.
60 days notice.
SA: Increase only if specified in tenancy agreement.
Agreement must state the amount of the increase or the method for calculating.
No sooner than 6 months from start of tenancy or date of last increase.
60 days notice.
TAS: Increase only if specified in tenancy agreement.
Agreement must state the amount of the increase or the method for calculating.
No sooner than 6 months from start of tenancy or date of last increase.
60 days notice.
WA: Increase only if specified in tenancy agreement.
Agreement must state the amount of the increase or the method for calculating.
No sooner than 6 months from start of tenancy or date of last increase.
60 days notice.
EDIT AGAIN: Its on the DHA site, if you go to Housing Services> Policies> Member Entitlements. Still, if you ask me that doesn't count, they should have sent a letter.
Last edited by StrawberryFields; May 10th, 2011 at 11:02 AM.
[QUOTE=MrsBexie;2799452]O M F G.... I just heard there is a rent increase in the may 26th pay?!?! $40 more a fortnight for the lowest rank/band!!!!QUOTE]
on the defence families fb group... I will get the link to the publication.
They are raising the lowest SR band by $40 and making us pay the same a sgt rank etc cause apparently we get the same entitlements with houses?? Bullsh*t if you ask me... the guys across the road are corporal rank and they have a 4b/r with ducted aircon n heating, power garage etc... and we are on the same entitlement?
No letter, no email nothing. Aparently it was posted on the defweb but who goes and checks that everyday looking for a rent increase notice??? They NEED to inform us by letter not just put it online...
GRR!!!! Across the block from us is DH's Bombardier, and they have a 4 bedroom house with separate dining and living areas, fully fenced yard, garden shed, and double lock up thats ACTUALLY big enough for 2 cars - BULLS EXCREMENT we get the same!!!! God that makes me mad.
So DHA have FINALLY agreed that the house we're in is unsuitable for our situation! After 2 and a half MONTHS! Yay
They've approved us for a move without removal so we have to move ourselves, but the thing is, now I'm getting to be too pg to do anything, and DH has just had knee surgery so really we can't move ourselves! Plus DH's unit is pretty much constantly out bush this year so we don't even have anyone who's around to help.
Do you guys think I should say something? Because if it had've been dealt with in a timely fashion then we would have been perfectly capable of moving ourselves but now we're not. It was handled so poorly - nobody even came out to our house to have a look at the fence, and as soon as the lady came to do our annual inspection it was approved the very next business day because she was like...'Wow, this really isn't good for you guys is it.' Plus, the woman who was originally handling our case just up and went on maternity leave in the middle of it and hadn't set up an out of office reply or organised anyone to take over the case, so for about 4 weeks my emails asking for updates on how the assessment was going were not being received by anyone, and out application hadn't progressed at all! Not only that, but nobody was even checking her answering machine so my phone calls were also going unanswered! They also knew I was pg, and that DH had surgery booked in. Its a bit annoying that its been approved less than a week AFTER his surgery, the date of which they knew.
I'm just so thankful that its finally been approved that I don't really want to rock the boat, or cause them to turn around and revoke the approval, but I really do feel like we've been put at a disadvantage through no fault of our own. We're not entitled to cleaning services either. I'd be happy to get someone in to take care of the cleaning because thats something we can probably afford, but once again we wouldn't have had to even consider that if it had've been dealt with in a reasonable time frame.
I just don't really know whether we should pipe up or just fork out money we REALLY don't have to hire people of our own
Id speak to DCO first. Explain the situation and see what they can do, they may be able to organise something within your husbands Unit. Friends of ours did similar, and the Unit provided a huge truck and some guys to help move the stuff.
Yeah, we have Homefind access, but theres nothing available yet. They said there will be a whole heap of houses coming online in the next couple of weeks though.
There's apparently a general housing shortage in Townsville at the moment. I find it kind of hard to believe when every second house is for sale and theres a new one finished in our estate every day, but I keep hearing it on the news and stuff
Thats bull. We only moved here 3 weeks ago and got homefind access a week before; there were oodles of houses on there, both 3 and 4 bedroom. I find it hard to believe that suddenly that many people moved here.
I would definately try and get it sorted soon though, as 3RAR are shifting towards the end of the year and all the housing will be allocated to rehoming them.
I would think they would have to have something up their sleeve all the time just in case something happens to someones house like a fire or what not
Freya: Really? We only had 3 choices when we first got here, and we were left with the one were in now because we were too slow in deciding! I think thats made it even more frustrating because we never picked this house in the first place. Thats interesting though...I hope they're not withholding houses from us just to be f-wits. Are you guys all settled now? It would be great to meet sometime! I'm still Nigella no friends up here
Bex: Its the corner house in Swiftlet Way in Bohle plains, whatever you do DON'T pick this house. Its perfect for a couple with no kids, or pets, or any intention of ever having either, and who love pulling weeds, hoons at 5am, not having anywhere for visitors to park, getting death stared for turning into their driveway, and picking up the rubbish the teenagers throw into their yard on their way to the bus stop which is right next door, but thats not us or you guys!
i hope things improve soon. i dont have any advice re DHA yet. tho we will be getting a DHA house when we move to wagga.
.
600???
I'm still Nigella no friends up here 
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