In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

(1) On taking up his or her duties in the Defence Force, a transferred employee (including the person designated by the Chief of Defence Force as the Secretary for War Pensions) must be treated as being appointed to the Civil Staff of the Defence Force under section 61A of the Defence Act 1990.

(2) The transfer of a transferred employee to the Defence Force is subject to any relevant transfer provisions of the employment contract applying to that employee.

(3) This section applies despite section 61A of the State Sector Act 1988.

(1) The employment of a transferred employee in the Defence Force must be on terms and conditions no less favourable to the transferred employee than those applying to the employee at the date of transfer.

(2) Any unexpired collective employment contract that covers a transferred employee continues, as from the date of transfer, to apply on the same terms—

• (a) as if it were a contract that had been made in respect of the Defence Force; and

• (b) as if it were binding both on that employee and on the Chief of Defence Force.

(3) Subsections (1) and (2) cease to apply to a transferred employee if the terms and conditions of employment that apply under the employment contract applying to the employee at the date of the transfer are varied by agreement between the employee and the Chief of Defence Force.

(4) Subsection (1) ceases to apply to a transferred employee who, after the transfer, receives any subsequent appointment within the Defence Force.

For the purposes of any provisions of a transferred employee's employment contract relating to continuity of service, that employee's transfer to the Defence Force is insufficient by itself to break his or her employment.

If a transferred employee was a contributor to the Government Superannuation Fund under the Government Superannuation Fund Act 1956 immediately before the date of his or her transfer to the Defence Force,—

• (a) that person must be treated for the purposes of that Act as being employed in the Government service for so long as the person continues to be employed by the Defence Force; and

• (b) that Act applies to the person in all respects as if the person's service with the Defence Force is Government service.

No transferred employee is entitled to receive any compensation for redundancy or any severance payment because—

• (a) the position held by that employee immediately before the transfer has ceased to exist; or

• (b) he or she has ceased by virtue of that transfer to be an employee of a department under the State Sector Act 1988.

The Acts specified in the Schedule are amended in the manner set out in that schedule.

(1) If, before the commencement of this Act, the Minister in Charge of War Pensions or any other Minister had, in relation to the War Pensions Act 1954 or any other enactment relating to veterans' affairs, initiated or become a party to any proceedings, the proceedings may be continued, completed, and enforced by or against the person who is for the time being the responsible Minister under that Act.

(2) If, before the commencement of this Act, the chief executive of the department responsible for the administration of the War Pensions Act 1954 had, in relation to that Act or any other enactment relating to veterans' affairs, initiated or become a party to any proceedings, the proceedings may be continued, completed, and enforced by or against the Chief of Defence Force.

(3) If, before the commencement of this Act, the Secretary for War Pensions had, in relation to the administration of the War Pensions Act 1954 or any other enactment relating to veterans' affairs, initiated or become a party to any proceedings, the proceedings may be continued, completed, and enforced by or against the officer or employee of the Defence Force who is for the time being the Secretary for War Pensions.

(4) Nothing in this Act affects any—

• (a) appeal that was, immediately before the commencement of this Act, pending or in progress before a War Pensions Appeal Board; or

• (b) claim that was, immediately before the commencement of this Act, pending or in progress before a War Pensions Claims Panel.

Nothing in this Act affects the appointment of any person under the War Pensions Act 1954 as a member of—

• (a) a War Pensions Appeal Board; or

• (b) the War Pensions Advisory Board; or

• (c) a War Pensions Claims Panel.

Unless the context otherwise requires, in any regulation, rule, order, agreement, deed, instrument, application, notice, direction, contract, lease, or other document in force at the commencement of this Act, provisions relating to veterans' affairs are to be read subject to the following provisions:

• (a) every reference to the Minister in Charge of War Pensions is a reference to the responsible Minister:

• (b) every reference to the chief executive of the Department is a reference to the Chief of Defence Force:

• (c) every reference to the Department is a reference to the Defence Force:

• (d) every reference to the Secretary for War Pensions appointed under the State Sector Act 1988 is a reference to the officer or employee of the Defence Force who is for the time being the Secretary for War Pensions:

• (e) every reference to the chief executive of the Department of Internal Affairs or to that department is a reference to the Chief of Defence Force.