The Australian government wants to broaden defence exchanges with Pacific countries amid wider fears the Australian defence force will struggle to meet recruitment targets over the coming decades.
Figures show the ADF’s permanent workforce strength increased from about 56,100 in 2012-13 to 59,300 in 2021-22 – meaning growth on average of just 300 a year during the life of the Coalition government.
About 10% of the ADF leave the force each year and the defence strategic review warned of “significant workforce challenges”. Both major parties have committed to ambitious plans for an additional 18,500 personnel by 2040.
“Without creative and flexible responses, the workforce situation in Defence will continue to deteriorate,” the review warned.
The government announced on Tuesday that it would offer ADF members a $50,000 bonus if they commit to stay for three years beyond their initial period of service, in a bid to tackle retention problems.
The deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, said defence was “not immune from the factors that we’re seeing in the broader economy” including skills challenges after the Covid pandemic.
“Defence does a lot of training and skills people up, so those in the defence force are highly sought after in the wider economy, and there are lots of opportunities for people who have had a career in defence to pursue their career in the wider economy,” Marles said on Tuesday.
“That’s obviously great, but it also creates a challenge for defence in terms of retaining people in the defence force.”
Marles indicated the retention bonus – expected to cost the budget $400m over four years – was just “a start” in addressing workforce problems.
He said the government was also exploring opportunities to “build on” exchanges and cooperation with defence forces in the Pacific, including Papua New Guinea.
“It already happens, for example, with other defence forces around the world, including defence forces in the Pacific,” Marles said.
“So there’s nothing new about having exchanges and opportunities for those in the defensive forces of our friends and allies to pursue opportunities in the Australian Defence Force, as of course there is for members of the ADF pursuing those opportunities in other defence forces around the world. And this is something we want to build on.”
Marles said such exchanges had “enormous merit” and gave people “a really strong personal connection with colleagues in defence forces of likeminded countries – it makes us closer”.
The shadow defence minister, Andrew Hastie, said increasing the ADF by 18,500 people over 20 years required all options to be on the table, including recruiting from the Pacific and other Five Eyes countries.
Hastie has floated the option of offering an accelerated pathway to citizenship for people who wish to serve in the ADF.
He said while the Aukus plan would “build our security” it would also place “a huge demand on our workforce”.
“Recruiting and retaining ADF personnel is going to be one of the biggest challenges,” Hastie said on Tuesday. “It’s an intergenerational challenge for the decades to come, with no time to waste.
“The first thing we must do is emphasise the unique calling of service in the ADF. We must emphasise service to the country in recruitment. If we don’t have the courage to make that a point of difference in the job market, then we have a problem, particularly when we have a generation of young Australians looking for a sense of purpose and mission.”
Hastie said another piece in the puzzle was to “rethink an antiquated career management model” that currently discouraged specialisation.
Under the government’s newly announced proposal, permanent ADF members will be able to receive a $50,000 bonus near the completion of their initial period of service, if they commit to serve for another three years.
If they don’t end up staying three years, they would be expected to pay back a percentage share of that bonus, depending on the length of time.
The government says the measure aims to address a problem with junior ranking members leaving the ADF, resulting in hollow structures within ADF middle ranks – or seven to nine years of service – “where the workforce is now at greatest risk”.
The measure will begin in 2024 but be reviewed after two years.
The government has also ordered a $2m review into defence housing policies.
It concedes “current Defence home ownership benefits are struggling to keep pace with the Australian property market and meet the changing needs of our service personnel and their families”.
