Welcome to Puckaonline

Welcome to The Puckapunyal & District Neighbourhood Centre (PDNC) Online Service to Defence Families.

Puckaonline is a cooperative program focusing on members and families being posted to Puckapunyal. The intent of the website is to inform families of the often-unheralded benefits of a posting to Puckapunyal. The Puckaonline website gives families direct access to education, housing, employment, health and a variety of other facilities on base and across the local region as soon as they receive their posting order. In addition to the functions already mentioned, puckaonline also provides information and links to tourism, entertainment, fitness, Defence and community sites as well as providing children and teenagers with their own weblinks.

An example of the use of the website might be for a family currently posted to Darwin accessing the various schools online in the Seymour region, contacting them and registering their children prior to even departing Darwin. Further, parents can contact local doctors through the health link to make them aware of their children’s needs and assessing their ability to provide assistance well before departing their locality. The usually onerous task of selecting a house is now made simple through the housing link to Defence Housing Authority (DHA). Although much of the application can be done online, contact names and numbers allow members to discuss their requirements in person with DHA professionals.

Puckapunyal recognises the importance of spouse employment when relocating and has provided spouses and partners with the opportunity to contact employment agencies in Seymour directly through web links as well as with interview skills and resume preparation through DCO and PDNC. Puckapunyal also appreciates the difficulties experienced by teenagers when moving. The Teens site provides teenagers with the option to search items of interest to them in their new location and to access services such as youth counsellors. Puckaonline endeavors to connect personnel with their future community at the earliest possible stage and is viewed as a valuable service to members and their families.