AAF COMPANY

(Trustee of Army Amenities Fund and Messes Trust Fund)
(ABN 82 008 629 490)

See important news in relation to the AAF Company Board Strategy meeting held on 15 March 2012 below.

Welcome to the AAF Company website. The AAF Company is Trustee of Army Amenities Fund and Messes Trust Fund. The Company is a not for profit organisation and was incorporated in the early eighties.

Overall, the objectives of the Company are to provide amenities to enhance the well being of the soldiers in the Australian Army. This is achieved through a variety of means; however, the focal point is the provision of holiday facilities and loans and grants for worthwhile projects. 

Eligibility to utilise the facilities is listed below:

  • Serving soldiers in the Australian Army, including reservists,
  • Serving members of the Navy and Air Force, including reservists,
  • Ex-serving members of the Australian Defence Forces,
  • Australian Public Servants working in Defence, DHA, DEFCREDIT and Australian Defence Force Credit Union staff,
  • Contractors working in Defence, and
  • State Emergency Services

The Company has holiday facilities in various locations around Australia. In some locations the Company owns the facilities – Kalbarri (WA), Goolwa (SA) and Coogee in Sydney. On the Gold Coast the Company leases apartments. For the leased properties there may be times when bookings are not available due to negotiations for renewal of leases or when lease will not to be renewed.  Bookings must be made in the name of the eligible member and the eligible member must be staying at the holiday facility.  The PMKeys number of the eligible member confirms entitlement to use the holiday facility.  In the case of retired members without a PMKeys number, service numbers are to be provided.  

The Company trusts you enjoy your stay at our holiday facilities.

The AAF Company Board of Directors comprises of:
The Chairman
 Brigadier Gavan Reynolds, AM
Directors

Brigadier Paul Nothard, AM, CSC
Colonel Cheryl Pearce, AM
(RSM-A) Warrant Officer David Ashley, OAM
Warrant Officer Kenneth Bullman, OAM
Mr Ben Chapman

Important note: The AAF Company does NOT control or manage the Bulwarra facility on the Central Coast or the properties at Trinity Beach and Magnetic Island in far North Queensland.
However, details are available on:
www.bulwarra.com.au
www.nqahr.com.au

Other Websites that provide details on Defence associated holiday facilities are:
www.ranccf.com - The Navy Central Canteen Fund site; and
www.raafholidays.com.au - The RAAF Welfare Recreational Company - Air Force.

STRATEGY MEETING 15 MARCH 2012 - OUTCOMES

The Board of Directors of the AAF Company (trustee of the Army Amenities Fund) met recently and revisited the strategic direction of the Army Amenities Fund and how the Fund may best support Army.  One of the deliberations focussed on the provision of holiday facilities. 

 By and large Army holiday facilities run at a loss – this is a conscious decision of the present (and past) Board and stems from the desire to provide affordable facilities (whilst monitoring the levels of the losses to ensure they do not adversely impact the viability of the Fund).  At a similar review in 2009, Directors decided that the viability of the Fund was being impacted by significant losses incurred by leased properties.  As such, leased properties were ‘let go’ in favour of concentrating on facilities that were owned by the Fund and also an emphasis on the provision of grants to Units and Associations for worthwhile project.  This approach has been re-affirmed and extended.

 Five Key decisions and actions from the meeting:

  • The leases at the Grande Florida Resort on the Gold Coast will not be re-newed in November.  This facility has run at a loss of some $24 000-25 000 over a number of years and to bring it to a ‘break-even’ status would require substantial and unacceptable increases in tariffs.
  •  There will be an emphasis on promoting facilities at Goolwa (SA), Kalbarri (WA) and Coogee (Sydney) with the aim of increasing the percentage of Army usage.  Historically, only 24% of occupants at Goolwa are members of the Army, 24% also at Kalbarri.  This is in contrast to the Coogee apartments where 64% of users are members of the Army.  The figure for Grande Florida is 31%.
  •  The Board are concerned that occupancy figures indicate that it is not ‘hitting the mark’ in relation to what member’s want and, as such, a further review will be conducted in 12 months to determine which accommodation model best suites the needs of members (for example, is accommodation in a capital city, close to transport and entertainment/sporting hubs more preferable to more remote areas such as Goolwa and Kalbarri?).
  •  There will be an emphasis on promoting grants for worthwhile projects and work to provide additional guidance on defining ‘what’ is an acceptable application will be done as soon as possible.
  •  The Secretariat of the Fund has also been tasked to explore other support options and provide results to the Board for consideration.  Included in this tasking is a review of the current web site.

 The above is meant to be a concise summary of Board deliberations.  There are other factors that were discussed such as operational tempo, Board governance and reporting requirements, impacts of the new Work Health and Safety Act and changing attitudes to holiday accommodation.