Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The Minister for Defence has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) Department of Defence $280,705 (GST inclusive), Defence Housing Australia $17,445 (GST exclusive).

(2) (a) At 1 July 2010 the Defence Public Affairs Branch employed 65 civilians, four contractors and 49 military employees. At 31 December 2010 the Defence Public Affairs Branch employed 46 military, 65 civilian's employees and 4 contractors.

Outside of the Public Affairs Branch on 1 July 2010 there were a further 46 Defence employees who provided public affairs or media support as a part of their regular duties, on 31 December 2010 this figure was 41 Defence employees and 3 contractors.

(2) (b) and (c) The following table details the position levels and employment status of staff:

At 1 July and 31 December 2010 Defence Housing Australia (DHA) had no specific staff members responsible for the stated functions. DHA has a Marketing Communication Team, comprised of four staff members. The team is responsible for marketing communication and media campaigns to provide product and service information. There is relatively little day to day media interest in DHA's activities, so an incidental proportion of the team's time is involved in responding to media requests.