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Media Liaison with
the Australia Defence Association (ADA)
What
is the Australia Defence Association (ADA)?
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Since 1975 we have been Australia's only
truly independent, actively
non-partisan and community-based national public-interest
watchdog and 'think-tank' on defence and wider national security issues.
More detail about us can be found on our FAQ page.
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Our role and nature can best be summarised as the national
public-interest watchdog on defence matters.
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Our public-interest guardian role in defence and wider national
security issues is analogous to that of Taxpayers Australia – previously the
Australian Taxpayers Association – in taxation matters (and to the
national public-interest watchdogs covering other major areas of national
governance and public administration).
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We
are a
fully independent public body. We are not affiliated or otherwise connected to the Department of
Defence, the Australian Defence Force (ADF), any other government
department or agency, or any other public or private body. Our
constitution may be found
here and related
details are explained on our FAQ page.
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We
are not the representative professional body for the defence force, nor
are we an "ex-Service"
or "defence profession" organisation, although we do have many serving and former ADF
personnel of all ranks among our (predominantly civilian)
national
membership. These distinctions
are explained
further on our
FAQ page.
ADA Media
Spokesman:
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Under
our constitution and operational procedures only our
executive
director, Neil James, is authorised to speak (on or
off the record) on behalf of the Association.
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The appropriate citation for
all ADA media comment is our executive director.
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Our national office is located in Canberra and
our executive
director can be contacted via the following:
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National Office:
(02)
6231-4444
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Mobile: (0408)
412-588
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Email:
Executive Director
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Mail: PO Box 320,
Erindale Centre, ACT, 2903, Australia
Our formal commentary
– and authorative background information on many defence and wider national
security issues – may also be found as follows:
ADA electoral comment, as required by Australian
law, is authorised by Neil James of the above address.
Scope of Media Liaison:
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We
are happy to assist with legitimate media enquiries on defence,
strategic policy, international security, domestic security,
counter-terrorism, intelligence, counter-intelligence and other national
security issues.
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We
are also happy to assist bonafide journalists and media researchers in determining
which official spokesperson, or subject-matter expert in Australia, might best be able to assist media enquiries.
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We
can also help with the historical,
professional
or technical background to current defence force capabilities, strategies, operations
and equipment, and with translating
military or intelligence and security agency terminology and procedures into more widely understood terms.
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Unfortunately, however, much modern media coverage of defence issues has not
helped dispassionate or informed public debate. While willing to help
alleviate this problem we cannot do your research for you and we expect
that your enquiries will be based on adequate preliminary research and a
reasonable level of general understanding (including relevant Australian
history). To help us and you prevent
sensationalist or uninformed media coverage we also expect a professional approach by you regarding
matters such as context, nuance, current events and
history for the particular topic concerned. Finally, we expect that your questions will be
objectively based
on commonly known facts or reasonable assumptions rather than
pre-conceived opinions, other biases or "story slants".
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We cannot and will not comment where
discussion or speculation in the media must not occur because it could endanger the
operational security, operational effectiveness or the general safety,
welfare and morale of Australian personnel or their allied counterparts.
Please note that concerns for operational security and operational effectiveness involve matters of protecting human life. They are not
somehow "censorship" in any form and should not be mistaken for it.
We hope that any professional journalist appreciates this absolute
requirement.
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If your enquiry involves ADF personnel matters (employee relations, industrial relations, conditions of service,
family welfare, etc) you should contact the defence force itself, the relevant
Department of Defence support agency, or the applicable ADF representative professional association:
―
Defence Force Welfare Association (DFWA);
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Defence Reserves Association (DRA);
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Defence Community Organisation (DCO)
of the Department of Defence; or
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Defence Families of Australia (DFA),
an organisation comprised of the civilian spouses and family members of defence force
personnel, that is sponsored by the Department of Defence in order to
advise the Minister for Defence and the department on the particular needs of the families of serving
ADF personnel.
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