The often unacknowledged sacrifices made by dual-serving Australian Defence Force (ADF) couples.

In the realm of military life, where duty often takes precedence over personal matters, the intricacies of dual-serving ADF couples are often overlooked. 

While their commitment to serving the nation is commendable, the challenges these couples may face as a result of policies and procedures that do not sufficiently recognise their unique circumstances remain largely unaddressed.

We know that dual-serving couples, like all Defence families, face many challenges with making family life work. Some of these include:

Deployments

Conflicting deployment schedules can create challenges for dual serving couples, particularly when they are assigned to different locations or deployed simultaneously. 

Throw kids into the mix and a lack of available family support, and suddenly deployment arrangements can put a strain on relationships and make it difficult for couples to maintain a healthy work-life balance. 

Deployments, exercises and demanding operations tempo will sometimes mean that one member will return home from a long deployment—just in time to say goodbye to their deploying spouse.

_{Dual-serving couple Emma and Sam made the choice that Sam would be the career member, with Emma the constant at home – for now.}

Relocations 

The impact of frequent relocations is hard for all Defence families. While relocation is an inherent part of military life, it can pose significant challenges for couples who both serve in the ADF. This includes not always being able to be posted to the same location at the same time. Although there are opportunities for members to request the same location, this is not always possible due to Defence’s resourcing needs. 

Things may become additionally complex if the couple are in different services, for instance if an Air Force partner is posted to Tindal in the Northern Territory, a Navy partner may have to opt for a career break, or to live separately as an Unaccompanied Resident Family (URF).

Career progression

Like many ADF families, dual-serving couples often have to balance their career and family needs. This can lead to one of the members having to take a back seat in their career to accommodate the other. 

To stay together, they might have to pass up promotions, career-enhancing assignments or accept a less desirable job to post to the same or similar locations.

_{Dual-serving family member Emma says that while both their roles are equally important “there comes a point where no matter how you juggle it you have to put one person ahead of the other.”} 

Advocating for policy change for dual-serving couples 

There are several areas within ADF policy and procedure where dual-serving couples are impacted. 

For instance, policies regarding support during relationship breakdowns may only provide entitlements to one member of the couple, leaving the other at a disadvantage in terms of housing, relocation, or other support services. 

This lack of parity in entitlements not only places additional strain on the affected member but also fails to acknowledge the sacrifices made by both individuals in the relationship.

_{Dual-serving family member Emma believes “you can’t both succeed in this game without someone sacrificing. We made the decision that it would not be our kids.”}

DFA has been advocating for policy reforms to address these disparities to ensure neither serving member is disadvantaged.

As a result, we have established specific advocacy goals to better address the concerns and challenges faced by affected members and families.

Advocacy Goals for Dual-Serving Couples

5.3 [PRIORITY GOAL] Obtain commitment for an accommodation allowance to cover accommodation for member and partner between an uplift and downlift if required in a breakdown of relationship removal, to address a current gap in policy. Where this pertains to dual-serving members, both members should be entitled to this provision.

DFA know the contributions of dual-serving couples within the ADF are invaluable, yet their sacrifices often go unrecognised and unacknowledged. 

The ADF must take proactive steps to address the disparities in entitlements and policies that impact these couples. 

By aligning policies with the realities faced by dual serving couples, the ADF can better support their wellbeing and ensure that they can continue to serve effectively without undue hardship.

Let us know!

DFA wants to know how we can better support and advocate for the needs of dual-serving Defence families.

While we are already addressing some policy gaps for this cohort, we are seeing a growing number of questions and feedback relating to this area.

If you are a dual-serving couple, let us know what gaps or changes you see needed in Defence policy that DFA could address.

You can send feedback to the National Delegate for your area.

The images of Emma and Sam in this post were from the 2022 DFA Family Photography Project. You can read their story here.