Public sector agencies, including State Owned Corporations, may be eligible to claim for financial assistance under the Commonwealth Defence Employer Support Payment Scheme (ESP Scheme).
The ESP Scheme is designed to help employers of Australian Defence Force Reservists to offset the cost of releasing those employees for Defence Force service. For example, ESP payments may assist agencies to cover the cost of military leave "top up" pay (see Circular No 2004-38 Extension of Military Leave Through 'Top Up' Pay) or a temporary employee engaged to do the work of the absent employee.
The following information is provided for the benefit of agencies. However, all agencies should obtain further details from the Department of Defence and make themselves familiar with the scheme.

Rate of payment
The payment is made at a set weekly rate (pro rata for part-time employees) equivalent to average weekly full‑time adult ordinary time earnings (AWOTE) and is paid regardless of the employee's salary. The rate is set for 12 months, beginning on 1 July each year, and is published on the Reserves website at www.defence.gov.au/reserves.
The rate for 2007-2008 is $1070.40/week.
There are no restrictions on the way employers can use the money.

Eligibility
To be eligible for the assistance, the employer must release employees on military leave or leave without pay and not require them to use their own leave entitlements. Service using annual leave, long service leave or other forms of accrued leave is not eligible for ESP payments or as the qualifying period of service.
An employee's period(s) of Defence service for which the employer is claiming must be a minimum of 5 consecutive days each. In addition, the employee must have served a prior qualifying period of 2 weeks' military service within the same financial year, either as a single block or in blocks of a minimum of 5 consecutive days each. A period of 5, 6 or 7 days is counted as a week.
ESP is not payable during the qualifying period.
ESP can be paid for up to 78 weeks for a single period of continuous service.
It is important to note that eligibility is based on the number of days in the period of military service, not the number of days' military leave granted to undertake the service. In some cases, an employee may be absent for fewer working days than the number of days' military service undertaken, but the employer may still be eligible to claim. This may occur, for example, when a weekend makes up part of a five-day block of military service, or when an employee's full-time ordinary hours are worked in long shifts over fewer than five days.

Claims
Whilst a claim for payment should be submitted within 6 months of the first day of service for which it is being made, this requirement may be waived where employers can show a good reason why they did not claim within that time. The Department of Defence has indicated that the fact that an employer was not aware of the scheme may be taken into account.

Further Information
Further details of the scheme and contact details at the Commonwealth Department of Defence can be found at www.defence.gov.au/reserves or on 1800 803 485. A brochure can be downloaded from http://www.defencereservessupport.gov.au/resources/publications/.
If you have any further questions in relation to this matter, please contact Nicholas Davison at the Department of Premier and Cabinet on 9228 3488.

John Schmidt
Acting Director General

Issued : Workforce Policy and Advice (Public Sector Workforce Office)
Contact: Nicholas Davison
EMail: [email protected]
Telephone no: 9228 3488
Facsimile: 9228 4056
File no: PSM/03596 Pt 2