With over eighty-five thousand people, Defence is one of Australia’s largest employers. As is shown in graph 4.5, the majority of Defence employees (59%) are full-time Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel. Of these, nearly half (24,469) are Army personnel, with the Navy and the Air Force employing 12,353 and 13,481 people respectively. In addition to full-time ADF personnel, a significant proportion (22%) are employed in the ADF Reserves (largely Army personnel) (table 4.6). A further 19% are civilians.
 |
4.6 AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE STAFFING - 2000-01(a)
|
| Department | ADF Full-time(b)
no. | ADF Reserves(c)
no. |
|
| Navy | 12,396 | 2,101 |
| Army | 24,488 | 16,087 |
| Air Force | 13,471 | 1,647 |
| Total | 50,355 | 19,835 |
|
(a) Estimate.
(b) Average strength.
(c) Actual strength of reservists who rendered paid service in 2000-01. |
Source: Department of Defence. |
The ADF has experienced difficulty in recent years in maintaining personnel numbers, particularly in specialist areas, due to relatively high separation rates and an inability to achieve recruiting targets. Although recruitment has improved, Defence faces significant demographic challenges in reversing these trends. Measures being taken include:
- Changing the role of the Reserves to better complement the role of the permanent forces. Following changes to Reserves legislation, the Government will allow wider employment options for enlisted Reservists and, in turn, provide increased support to Reservists and their employers.
- Improving opportunities for young Australians to participate in the Australian Services Cadet Scheme. To this end, the Government has allocated an additional $6m per annum, bringing total funding to $30m per annum.
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