53.Partner Employment. It's complicated! - a podcast by Beck Rayner

Partner employment, if it was a relationship on socials it would be listed as "its complicated."

 

It's an area that almost all ADF partners will face challenges in at one point or another whether it be because of relocation, unconscious employer bias, the extra responsibilities we take on that may restrict us and our capacity and the list goes on.

 

The last ADF families survey showed 14% of partners are unemployed (double the unemployment average), 12% are underemployed and 81% say they have made employment sacrifices because of their partner's ADF career and those stats were collected in 2017 pre COVID.

 

But behind the scenes there are people working to break down employment barriers for partners. People like the team at Defence Families Australia who advocate for more initiatives to assist partners to gain and maintain meaningful employment and are working to educate Australian businesses on what they can do to recruit, hire and retain partners as valuable employees.

 

Employer like Defence Bank who, in 2019 received the PM'S Excellence in Supporting Spouse Employment award and have also made it their mission to go above and beyond not just ticking the boxes of being a partner friendly employer but providing partners with next level career support, benefits and workplace policy.

 

And like Career Practitioner, Churchill fellow and Partner Amanda McCue who is leading the way in this space with her research into partner employment overseas, in the hope of improving employment outcomes for Australian partners.

Ready to join the MWL community? Click through the link to get connected xx

www.militarywifelife.com.au

Further episodes of Military Life

Further podcasts by Beck Rayner

Website of Beck Rayner