Defence Force Families

Hi all

I swear there used to be a thread here for defence force families but i cant find it anywhere so I thought it is time to start one.

DH has been in the army reserve for 5 years but will be going full time army as of July. In the reserves he is an infantry soldier and when he goes full time he will be a metal smith as he is a qualified boilermaker. he has been told that we will be posted to Brisbane, Townsville or Darwin. He has put in his preferences for Brisbane but we wont find out until he has done most of his 65 day conversion course. So those who have put in preferences for specific locations, did you get that location? I would much rather Brisbane than townsville or Darwin but if we cant get Brisbane it is not such a big deal because we can transfer again later.

I would love it if we got an online group going, that way we we get postings to places like Brissy Townsville or Darwin we will know someone :lol: I know I am not the only defence mum on BB

Hi Ali, yep we're a Defence family, DH is in the RAAF. With postings, we have had both extremes - not getting posted ANYWHERE for several years (despite being desperate to move back to family due to multiple terminal illnesses at home) and also being posted straight up to 1st preference straight off course. It really depends on where they need staff, sometimes it matches up & you're happy, sometimes it doesn't. But if you always look at moving like it's a little adventure and make the most of it, every posting can be good! :) You've just got to find out for yourself what the benefits of a particular place are.

Does your DH expect to deploy soon after he finishes his course? I would imagine they are after metal smithy sort of ppl in Afghanistan.

I was hoping you would reply MD :lol:

Yes we have been told to expect Afganistan, for up to 9 months. and TBH we could use the money from it! my car needs to be paid off as do the rest of our bills and DH needs a car too.

I am lucky that I have family all over the country and if I need to come home I can stay with some family for a while. Where are you posted now?

We've been in Canberra for nearly 5 years and have been posted back home to Adel as of the end of this year (YAY)! Do whatever you need to to get through the deployments, mine deployed frequently but for shorter periods so we were out of the deployment support loop, which was quite hard. However, if we were looking at 9 months (count 10 as they never get home when they first think they will plus there's always extra trips before they leave) there's no way I'd tough it out by myself! That's just not fun!

Ok I am not defence any more we are ex navy BHL has been out now for 12mths but thought I would reply because we got posted a lot and we went to Darwin 3 times....


Darwin it self isnt too bad I loved living on RAAF and Larakeyah bases as I find Darwin is split into the two types those who are in the defence and those who arent.... So I found it really hard to fit in when we lived in roseberry.... the only problem with Darwin is that it can be very drink orentaed( sp?) place so if you are not drinker or not very social like myself you can find it hard to fit in ( well I did anyway ) That and I get board after a year as I have see it all and been everywhere, But love Mindle beach market and fish and chips on the warf( sp?) in the wet and watch the storms roll in and I miss the huge storms...

As for Townsville cant help you as Navy doesnt go there we go to Carins which is lovely, and for some reason that I never did work out people from Cairns dont like Townsville and people from Townsville dont like Cairns....

Hope you dont mind a EX poping in

Tali, the more the merrier if you ask me! :)

BTW Darwin is a good one to get these days cos you get TWO trips home every year and all the houses are airconned these days (unlike the bad old days when were there, no aircon and only 1 trip every 2 years ;)). We were on the RAAF base and it was excellent - right in the middle of everything but I reckon Larrakeyah would be better. Steer clear of DEB (old navy base in Berrimah) as it is a mossie infested swamp land! Aaah I'd love to be at the mindil beach markets sucking down a mango smoothie, a chicken satay and a bowl of laksa!

I think I will be fine, provided I can find some friends fast :lol: hence the creation of this thread :redface:

Looks like we will just miss each other if you come back at the end of the year! Oh well, maybe you will get posted to wherever we are before too long :lol: but only after all the family stuff is sorted.

Have you ever had a service residence? are they tiny? I have thrown out nearly half my house worth of stuff and have tonnes more to go. Think we will replace our bedding and crockery when we get there but there is only so much you can turf hey :lol:

Because of DH's reserve service he only has to wait 18 months for DefCredit, and wants to wait 18 months after he is approved to get it so we can get more. we think we will buy in Brissy so my Sis can rent it if they havent bought by then if we get posted elsewhere. so in 3 years we will be buying a house.

I am sure we are not the only defence families on BB. do you know of any others?

I'm sure your thread will flush them all out Ali!

Yep living in a service residence right now. Probably the best we've ever had, I looked the lady in the eye and told her we didn't ask for this posting, we own our own home and there's only so far I'm prepared to go down in standard of living. It worked and they showed us some more houses. We've been with Defence for 18 years and we've lived in some shockers in that time, worst being a house on the RAAF base which was newly renovated haha but they didn't fix the roof so it just leaked torrentially every wet season. It took months every wet season to get them to fix it, and in the meantime everything just grew over with mould. Also the power would cut out for 3-4 hours on a regular basis, the substation we were on was owned by RAAF and it only did about 6 houses so they never bothered to fix it. But Darwin is such a friendly place and we were happy there.

Thinks to think about when you are choosing a SA include storage - not just wardrobes in bedrooms, but also storage for all the extra army cr@p they bring home. So look for things like extra shed/garage space, underhouse storage, etc. If you have good storage, the rest of the house is much more usable. Also when you move around a lot you get used to getting rid of stuff frequently, less junk to tow around.

We already have a pretty big pile of army cr@p! his pack plus webbing and all those bits and pieces. it is in a 128 litre rolling crate ATM and there are a few bits not where they belong.

our biggest problem is hoarding so this cleanout is massive. I think I will hire a skip for when the removalists come and just dump anything that we wont need as soon as we get up there. we can always replace it. we have gotten rid of some furniture and will get rid of more. My SIL will take our futon and whatever else we want new of. I hope The laundry is big enough for my washing machine! I have an 8 KG top loader and it is HUGE!!! we have trouble getting in doorways when we move but it is a godsend when I need to do some washing! 1 Load fills up a hills hoist!

we have had some lovely Defence homes and some shockers!!!! the ones on the barracks are normally the crappy ones as they are owned by the defence so no standards but they are starting to change that.... like I said ( ie Darwin ) we had a really nice 4 bedroom house with big back yard aircon throu out but it was in a really unfriendly area but the houses when we had then on the base's might have been small ( they will store the stuff if it doesnt fit) but the people around you were all in the same boat ( DH's going away alot ) so they were always there to help you out if you asked, ( wish I had done that more oftern)...


There are many ways around DHA they arent very nice or helpful at the best of times, but once we had been offered a house that we just didnt like and were told that it was the only one in our class but I told them that if they didnt want baby vomit all over their house due to my son having reflux then they would give me a house without carpet ( we were in Cairns and the house was fully carpeted wtf) anyway they soon found us a house in the next class of houses we just had to pay the extra $10 in rent so always remember you can ask for an up grade we oftern told them our stuff just wont fit in the houses they were offering they always magically find a spare house... But its a bit different now as you find the houses on line before you move.. But if you have family in the area Tee it up with then to have a look at the house for you even if they just look in the windows...

Hi Tali!

How long have you been at your post? what part of the defence is your DP?

We are a Defence family in Townsville, newly posted!! We arrived on the 21st December. Luckily Ian is from here originally and his dad still lives here.

DH has been in the RAAF for 22 years or so. Enlisted right out of high school. He is a Flight Sergeant SysTech. I'm currently a SAHM awaiting the arrival for bubs number 2.

We live in a DHA house and it is really nice but storage is a problem. Probably because Ian is a hoarder. He takes up double the wardrobe space I do for crying out loud and that doesn't even cover his t-shirts!

Alioops you must have missed my 1st post I am ex navy wife of 12yrs my BHL got out last year and now works in the mines ( so yes he still goes away 2 weeks away 1 home )


Hope its ok that I drop in every now and then even if I am now on the outside

Ali - I'm not defence, but just wanted to pop in and say that Townsville is FULL of defence people. So you definitely won't be alone there. I know that annat (who is a member here) is moving up to Townsville in August as her dh has been posted there.
And I agree with Tali, for some reason, Townsville people hate Cairns people and vice versa. Dunno what the deal is with that!

I am ex defence, DH was army. I loved Darwin, we lived at Durack (Fairway waters) which was full of defence housing and really lovely (this was 1999-2000) Some of the houses on the Navy base at Coonawarra were pretty shabby then but they may have got better.
SIL is in Cairns with navy and has a gorgeous house.
bbl whinging toddler

Thanks for replying girls! I have never been to either QLD or NT so it will be completely new for me. I can be a bit shy when I know absolutely no-one so I dont know how I will go with meeting new people. Does everyone come and say hi when they see a new family move in or is it more of a oh new neighbours again type of thing? I would be more comfortable with the neighbours coming to welcome us than having to introduce myself!

Ex Defence most welcome! you have the knowledge I am soon to learn about the DHA :lol:

Depends on the housing situation. In Townsville, there is a shortage of houses at the moment but it is being fixed from what I understand. We are living in a house one below our entitlement and I think it is a great house. Definitely a step-up on the average home (well, to me anyway! maybe I just have low expectations being a RAAF brat when housing was really bad. Dad was a RAAFie for 22 years).

As for the welcome to the neighbourhood, I don't know about those living on base as I never have but if you end up in the suburbs, then it seems to be dependant on the attitude of the neighbours. Some introduce themselves and some don't. Luck of the draw unfortunately.

I have never lived on a base but have heard it can be a bit clichey and some women live by their DH's rank which is so stupid! When we were in Darwin my DH was a private and one of my closest friends DH was the brigadier!! DH's boss actually told him to tell his wife (me) to stop talking to the brigs wife. For my friend and I who were both teachers we were women who had a lot in common and were friends and what our husbands did was immaterial.

I have found that I have never had a neighbour come over to say hi never never never but that could be because I'm not a very soical person but still most the time if you keep to yourself then that is how you will be left but if you want to brake out and make friend then its up to you to do this, I think that people tened to be stand offish ( if thats a word) because if you are Army or RAAF then you can be there for a long long time so its hard to make friends when you know that they will too move away ( navy move around a lot ) and for the Navy people you may only be there a year so it gets to the point where you think why should I bother ( well it did for me )...

But like I said if you make the effort then I am sure it will pay off for you, may times I would see the new people move and think that I sould go over there with coffee or something but never had the corage (sp?) but I know that if someone came over and offerd me one when we were unpacking I would have been very greatfull....

As for the base's like I said I did really like living on RAAF and Larakeyah but they can be clicky when you first walk into a playgroup run by the defence no matter where you are you WILL be asked what you DH is in and what rank he is I always told them the truth and never found I had a problem with it and if I did then I would stay away from those people but I would say to try to mfind civvy playgroups as it has been know to go pear shaped at these things before and it works it's way back to the boys ( in our case the boats ) and then the men cant get away from it and have to deal with it everyday.. ( it happened to me it all went very wrong and I never did go back to a defence playgroup again...)

hope some of this helps

Hi there!

Im the Anna Jodi mentioned in the post above.

My DH has been in the Army for 6yrs and my father has been in for 30yrs so Im an old hand at military life :lol:

We're currently in Albury Wodonga, my DH used to be infantry (3RAR) but he trade transfered to do the fitter armament course and we are uplifting and heading to Townsville on July 18th. Super excited, Ive heard nothing but fabulous things about Townsville! Ive also lived in Sydney, Singleton and Puckapunyal. I was born in Brisbane when my parents were at Canungra but I dont remember living there.

Defence homes are generally really nice esp in the cities. Alot of places have shortages at the moment, Townsville and Brissy being two of them. We had a SR picked out in Townsville but because our move got pushed back 3 weeks we had to give it back. It was a lovely 4 bedroom home in a great location. But we'e assured similar if not better houses will be available for us next month.
As far as I know they are eliminating all base housing by next year. We currently live across the road from one of the bases down here in a little patch of defence homes and theyre demolishing them in the next 2yrs.
As for DHA, all I can say is you win some you lose some. Different DHA's give you different results. Moving has always been an issue for us, we've had some shocking breakages and packing problems. Just best to be aware and stand your ground against them if they give you cr@p.

As for friendliness and neighbours, it depends on the town/area your in. Here in A/W, they arent fond of the military. Not that I see many civilians as I attended military-run playgroups etc. I live in a military only patch of housing across from base and Id be lucky to see/speak to/know 5 neighbours out of 45 houses! Certainly not as friendly as it used to be. Some wives/partners, esp the new ones in my experience, can be real catty. Ive had some bad problems here with rumours etc all because I just dont want to be friends with women who gossip and complain constantly. Some of my husbands workmates also dont like me befriending their partners because Im a "bad influence" aka I have a brain and independence and they dont want their partners do be the same. Unfortunately as a military spouse its a rough trot sometimes and we sacrifice alot. If your partner deploys or goes on exercise we have to be able to stand on our own two feet esp with kids in tow and make alot of decisions independently/control finances etc Personally my Dh likes that he doesnt have to worry about me falling apart if he goes away for any length of time and he knows Ive got it all under control so he can focus on his job, because its very stressful for them alot of the time. To each their own though. Elsewhere you live amongst civilians and like anybody, whether your neighbours meet you or not depends on the person themselves. I usually like to go over and say Hi, let them know we have 2 kids and a dog so if there is every any issue with noise please let us know etc etc etc My husband and I are very friend-oriented, we like to have bbq's and get everyone to come round/bring their kids. I also attend military spouse groups like coffe clubs etc. I know Townsville has 2 such groups that are apparently great fun! Plus you'll know all of us gals so your bound to know atleast 1 person in each posting locality!

If you do come to Townsville Id be happy to befriend you and I know there are a few others ladies on here, military and civilian, who are lovely and willing to meet people new to the city :D

Hi Anna!

DH is going to Albury Woodonga for his conversion training on 8/7/08, so our DH's might meet :lol: especially considering it is RAEME! I am still hoping for Brissy as I am not the best with humidity but would prefer Townsville if we dont get it. I am not going to be taking too much up with us, I will buy new crockery there so they wont have much to break :lol: The majority will be furniture. We plan to keep both of our cots because there is a chance that baby #3 will be 3&4. We plan to start TTC when we get there ;)

In ARes DH is in 10/27 RSAR and keeps joking about how he will soon be one jumping up and down on a pogo stick trying to catch a glimpse of the action :lol: I wonder if you have heard that before? It is so nice to see them in dress uniform on Anzac day, i love watching him, And even the Khaki looks hot :lol:

How long into his conversion training do they usually give you a moving trip or the info on houses available? would be nice to start looking now :lol:

I grew up across the road from a defence family and they were wonderful! They still live in their house but he is no longer in the army. He drove my bridal car (it was his car) so we could probably ask them what they went through. The community is what we make it so I guess I will just have to go and introduce myself :lol: I can do that.

How long is your hubby's conversion training? They may meet each other if he is at Latchford Barracks, my other half does metal working as part of his training. We found out about our posting in March and we were *supposed* to leave in June so 3mths before your due to leave maybe? You get access to Homefind which allows you to look at housing in your posting locality via the net as soon as your AFR (application for relocation) is in to DHA. Are you moving to A/W or staying where you are until he gets posted on?

LOL @ your DH, my hubby says the same thing all the time. He has been on deployment once before to Timor, way before I met him and he would have gone to Iraq the year our son was born (he was in the same Unit as Jake Kovco :( ) but he discharged and then reenlisted. He's happy to be a tradie now, not as much chance of deployment, he'd rather be watching our boys grow up instead of seeing pictures for 10mths at a time, which is why he quit the infantry.

I am staying here for the conversion training (65 days) and once he gets a posting I will move. Our lease here expires in october so if i stay until mid september which is when we expect to get a posting, we wont have to break our lease too early. He doesn't know exactly where his training is but he knows it will be A/W. He will be doing Metal Smith so they have some decent chance to meet then :lol:

Hi Alioops, My husband is army and we live in Townsville. I LOVE it here, it is a great lifestyle, really great for families esp if you love the outdoors... I have found that it depends on who your neighbours are as to whether you meet them, we live in Riverside, awesome house - DHA, and have met a couple of our neighbours but had to make the effort to meet them. Anyhoo, Im sure whever you end up you will enjoy i and if you end up in Tsv it would be lovely to catch up :) Oh and we will be TTC Dec 08 / Jan 09 so if your here our #3 will be the same age :)

Hi WBSB!

Welcome to BB!

We are not sure but we may bring TTC forward to just after the move, incase DH gets sent overseas. His current seargent thinks that they will be pretty keen to send him to Afghanistan to help with the rebuilding so if that happens it will probably mean he is away for Christmas and New Years.

What does your DH do in the army?

Good Morning Alioops,

My husband works on the black hawks at the RAAF base.
I know what you mean about the TTC, like everything when married to the defence it all has to work around them!! We too are currently negotiating our TTC date. My big plan was Dec 08 / Jan 09 but I have just been told that he is most likely going to be in Timor (90%) from Oct for 4 mths, which means he misses Oscar's 1st B'day, Matilda's 2nd, Christmas (we already have a holiday booked!), my b'day (which Im happy to miss myself lol) and most likely our wedding anniversary... Hence me sounding a little jaded at 5:49am... I don't really want to be pregnant this year, just had two back to back and have a few goals I'd like to achieve first, ie. losing preg weight, and I also want to have the best chance of a VBA2C... So I guess mine will probably be amended to TTC March 09 if at all... Sorry to have had a little verbal spew :) I am literally tired and a little tired of army wife life!! oh well, better put my big girl panties on and suck it up hay... Must just be the time of day...
Hope your move goes well and you have a great day...

WBSB - Dont worry about DH going away. You'll have fabulous friends like us to help you through it :)

And way to go on aiming for a VBA2C! Have you thought about hiring a doula to give you a bit of extra support?

Seems like a few of us are TTC #3. We are starting as of right now and I am super duper excited. I love being a mum and after thinking we'd never have kids to have 3 is just amazing. We're planning a homebirth for #3 and hoping it will be a little girl to add to my testosterone boosted household hehe

You guys have to leave the girly vibes to me ok ;)

Hi Anna, thanks for your support :) I am going to have a doula at the birth, I think they are a great idea... That's great that your studying to be one, there seems to be a great birth buddies doula's here. If that makes sense! A home birth, wow, that would be amazing... I too am hoping for a girl, fingers crossed...
Apparently if you eat low cal diet when TTC that increases the chance of a girl. Anyhoo, best go have some lunch while the little people are sleeping.
Thanks, Im feeling heaps better after this mornings little vent
:)

It's funny reading this - some things don't seem to change over time whilst others have. My Dad was Army (RAEME!) and we moved HEAPS. I can vividily recall neighbours bringing over scones and coffee as soon as they saw the moving truck pull up! That was something Mum did as well. Then DHA housing began to be intergrated "into the community" and we had more and more civvy neighbours. We were lucky that we usually had one or two Defence families in the same strip though that were friendly and provided supports. The civvies were usually pretty dubious and less friendly due to the frequent moving in and out.
But then you get communities like Holesworthy in NSW where the "intergration" has worked really well and most neighbours will introduce themselves - civvy or otherwise!

My DH is Reserves but I can still relate to each of you! The partners at his Unit are pretty hard to deal with sometimes - it's all about rank. I personally couldn't give a rats! There was one partner who was an Officer (DH was a Sgt, she was a Captain) and so no one would talk to her! They were completely different Corps! After that, DH told me I couldn't join as was the plan because I'd outrank him as a Nursing Officer.

If you're concerned about meeting people, you could always join a hobby group or organisation where you can meet like minded people. As a kid, I joined Girl Guides so I could meet people. As an adult, it was SES (nation wide), CFA, and St John Ambulance (Nation Wide). And of course play groups!

Good luck with the move Ali - embrace it as a new adventure and definately let the packers do all the work! We only ever packed things they wouldn't pack (like Dad's firearms) and things Mum didn't want to risk being broken (heirloom china etc). We had surprisingly few breaks - usually it was things like the fridge being scratched or a table leg being bent. I actually miss the nomadic life I grew up with!

MG

WBSB, well Im happy to offer my services as a doula to you when the time comes if you want :) Ive had 2 vaginal births so Im a bit of an old hand at it lol

Anna and WBSB, You can have the girls, I have 2 already, I want a boy :lol:

WBSB, I have had 2 waterbirths, which were awesome. number 3 will probably be a waterbirth too. I have had great birth experiences and natural pain relief for them. I have confidence in your ability to have the nex bub naturally too ;) Re TTC: It is best to get the weight off between #2 & #3 as it is harder for each baby. I have also had my 2 close together and have finally had more of my marriage not pg than i have had pg. for a while there I had 18 months pg and 9 months not!

MG, All of the families in DH's ARes unit have young children, so we all got along when we met up for the family day. His unit is very relaxed though and he gets along really well with the seargent that runs his base, and he is a private atm! I think for me it is more a thing of the women with higher rank want to move up a class IYKWIM, not be welcoming and help the families who are where they have been. I think i will be trying very hard to be helpful for the newbies when I am an old hand at it :lol:

WBSB, If I am in Tsville I will be there for you ;) but no offence I hope we get brissy, I like the temps I see on the forecast there ;)

Hi ladies

Hope you don't mind me joining in - a girlfriend of mine sent me the link to your thread!

I'm a Townsville defence partner too. My partner is in the army and has been for 6 years - although at the moment he's looking at other options due to being messed around so much lately (nothing new in his unit though!).

I'm originally from Perth and moved here to be with him 2 1/2 years ago and he's originally from country Victoria.

Townsville is a great place to live - the weather is AWESOME. I've made some magical friends up here too - some others defence, some not! I'm expecting our first bub in just over a week's time, so having more defence mums to talk to would be great....

Take care

Taz

HI Taz!

The more the merrier IMO! I started this thread so we would all know people wherever we get posted to and not end up lonely, but there is yet to be someone in Brissy pop in :lol:

Re the weather in Tsville, how hot does it get and for how long and how humid is it?

Ive heard its not too bad once you get used to it Ali. TBH I am so looking forward to no winter, I love summer. Its warm all year round, from what I can remember someone telling me wet season is Nov-April.

Hi again

the humidity is something I love from places like Bali & Thailand so I didn't have a problem with it at all. Usually, it starts warming up around November, but really gets humid December - February / March. The rain comes in during that time too.. but it's NOTHING like what I've experienced in Perth - when it rains here it's still 29 degrees so it's alright if you get wet 'coz you don't freeze!

From around March onwards it cools down a bit and winter is still a nice 26 degrees during the day, getting cooler (again, not the same as other places - our minimum here is usually around 12!!!) at night!

How are you all liking being defence partners? And how long have you been one for? Personally, I haven't had much support at all when my partner has been away and we have both been messed around by the army, so I'm not a big fan at all! But, I've been told it's just the section that Bondy (DP) is attached to and the rest of the place isn't as bad... we'll see!!!!

Taz

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WBSB, well Im happy to offer my services as a doula to you when the time comes if you want :) Ive had 2 vaginal births so Im a bit of an old hand at it lol

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Thanks, Ill need all the help I can get!!!

Hay I saw that you were hoping for a girl too... I have read in several places the following results from a UK study:
Women on low Calorie diets or who skip breakfast at the time of conception are more likely to give birth to girls. IVF research has deomonstrated that higher glucose levels encourage the development of male embryros. Women who dont eat breaky are more likely to have low glucose levels, which may impact the sex of their offspring. This research is thought to exlain why in developed countries, where many young women choose to have low calorie diets the proportion of boys born is falling. Dr Fiona Matthews of The University of Exeter

Alioops - Guess that means you need to eat a big breakfast :)

I had heard that WBSB!

Dh is in Murray bridge ATM for his final compliance shoot before the transfer. His current Sarge doubts very much that the paperwork will be done in time for him to go on the conversion course that starts on the 8th. One of the higher up members of the 10/27th decided they only need 1 full time clerk, and nothing is getting done properly. we wouldn't have this issue if when DH had gone inactive, someone had done the paperwork properly when he reactivated. His current temp job is being really understanding and know that he could get minimal notice. I am noticing that temp firms seem to be more understanding than permanent employers! I guess they have the thing of if you are not working you are not getting paid, so your loss, we can find someone else.

Taz, DH has been ARes for 5 years and is tranferring to regular army. I have been a defence partner for longer that he has had ties to the defence IYKWIM. He always wanted to be a soldier and was always wearing camo before he got in. :lol:

I am pretty much guaranteed work if we go to Brissy or Darwin. My temp firm has offices there and Darwin especially are desperate for temps. hoping for brissy though coz anything over 30 degrees I melt. I hate Adelaide summers! it got to 45 degrees last summer! yuck! be nice to have some rain sometimes! but I also like sunshine!

I know i probably should have just edited the last post but I have a rather imprtant question.

If/When DH is posted O/S do we qualify for single parent pension? This always confuses me! I will also make a post for Briggsy's Girl as she would definately know.

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I know i probably should have just edited the last post but I have a rather imprtant question.

If/When DH is posted O/S do we qualify for single parent pension? This always confuses me! I will also make a post for Briggsy's Girl as she would definately know.

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No because you aren't single (technically). It is the same as if he went on a holiday. You could call Centrelink to clarify and also if you chose to stay where you were and he went to the new posting but as far as I am aware for both you are still married, defacto etc. Single means that you are no longer in a realtionship. But of course if Centrelink say differently then please let us know cos that would be great :o)

No you do not qualify as single, although until July 1 this year you'd get a Centrelink windfall in your family tax benefit and child care payment amounts as Centrelink previously only calculated your taxable income. However this is changing as of July 1st so you will need to work out how much he is likely to get paid and report that to Centrelink early on in the deployment or you could end up with a massive overpayment problem at the end of the financial year. This will be a nightmare and IMO they have not considered the full impact this will have on Defence families who often revert to pretty low incomes once the member is back on Oz soil.