Tips For Parents of ADF members

Ensure your son or daughter has updated their Next of Kin details including phone numbers and addresses in the Defence human resources system PMKEYS, particularly before a deployment or after a change in personal circumstances such as a marriage or marriage breakdown.

Defence Chaplains are trained professionals who are able to provide pastoral care and counselling to ADF members and their families, for issues such as bereavement and anxiety due to military service (training, posting, exercise or deployment).

Deployment Tips

Ask your son or daughter about newsletters, workshops and events organised around the deployment. Ask for details of the welfare officer or commander so you can contact them for assistance.

Call your nearest DCO office to ask to receive notice of workshops and social events during the deployment period by mail or email.

Before your son or daughter deploys, ask them for their PMKEYS number and mailing address.

Below are some tips to enhance communication by letter during deployments:

• Write letters as if talking directly to your loved one. Let them know about daily activities, share family news and maybe send local newspaper articles of interest.
• Express your appreciation for letters or telephone calls received, mentioning one or two points of special interest.
• Date or number each letter so that if more than one letter is received at once, your son or daughter will know which one was written first.
• If you must deliver bad news in a letter, be clear, to the point and include all details.

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