Australian Department of Veterans’ Affairs FAQ

Good for learning and future career

time management, Lack of motivation

Being able to directly/indirectly assist war veterans who genuinely need help can be very satisfying on a big picture level.

- Most staff are on a work contract, and can be terminated suddenly without warning. - Due to this, those who need the work, keep their heads down and their opinions to themselves. They would rather stay passive aggressive then sing out to help another against mistreatment or address an issue with department process. - Crossing a manager or team lead can be detrimental to your career, and you may get reprimanded/blamed for no reason. This includes managers who choose to misconstrue incidences. - Managers & Team leads can have a style of authoritarianism, and prefer staff to keep heads down and not open their mouths. - Depending on the team, there may be little or no culture/fun expressed. - - Culture tends to benefit managers, team leads and senior delegates. Atmosphere can be passive aggressive and unfriendly to lower level staff, dependent on the type of work one does. - Team leads and senior delegates can be people who've done their time in the department, and 8/10 times possess a lack of leadership training and care of people management. Delegates also vary in terms of experience and again people training. There is alot of ego associated in the role of delegates - where many examples of bad culture can be seen from supposed delegates. My suggestion is assess the delegate based on their personal nature and their level of professional experience outside of the Dept. Those who've had extensive experience in a similar role outside of the Dept, tend to make better delegates.

Staff work far better when given support and encouragement to express positivity and confidence. A happy workplace leads to happy staff who buzz through their work. An unhappy suppressed workplace leads to dismal, negative staff who may hold resentment, fear and passive aggressiveness. Try to recognise that by creating a hierarchy structure of delegates and lower level staff - it is creating an unhealthy work culture.

The work with customers was fulfilling Until management tried to make us lie to veterans

Worst management I've seen Mistreatment of veterans and employees

Great people, challenging work and opportunities to move around within the department

Not enough staff due to budget issues. Massively understaffed.

Advocate for more staff

Interesting admin roles Relaxed and supportive culture

Public sector bureacracy and slowness