Best Result For 10 Years In ADF Recruitment

The Hon. Dr Brendan Nelson,
Minister for Defence

Best Result For 10 Years In ADF Recruitment

I am pleased to announce that Defence enlisted 8924 people in total into the Australian Defence Force last financial year. This is 1125 more people than enlisted in the previous financial year.

This is a notable result at a time when Australia's economy is robust, with the lowest unemployment rate for 30 years and where civilian employers are competing strongly for people with the same professional skills and technical and trade aptitude keenly sought by the ADF.

This is one of the best achievements in 30 years. In 1996/7 9575 people enlisted. The previous best result was in 1977 with a total of 8996 people enlisting. This compares with the lowest achievement in 1992 of 2380 people when the then Labor Government cut battalions from the ADF.

Of the 8924 people enlisted in 2006/07, there were:

* 6031 new full-time members representing an increase of 664 full-time entrants over the previous year.

* 2893 new Reserve entrants recruited, representing an increase of 461.

Since 2001, the Australian Government has committed $3.8 billion to boost ADF recruitment and retention through a range of new initiatives and measures. For Defence Force Recruiting alone, $789 million has been allocated to improve the recruitment and career marketing process, better manage applicants, establish a career and transition advice service and introduce a new Defence Apprenticeship scheme.

While recruiting results this year are a great improvement on past years, further gains are needed. Defence's immediate 'people' priority for the coming years is to enlist about 6 500 full-time ADF entrants each year and reduce the ADF separation rate to below 10 per cent. These targets are important to grow the ADF to 57 000 personnel by 2016 to meet the Government's military capability needs.

I especially wish to congratulate the uniformed and civilian members of Defence Force Recruiting headed by the "recruitment Supremo" Brigadier Simon Gould in this achievement, along with the personnel units in Defence and each of the Services. Without their commitment and professional dedication, this result would not have been possible. Well done.

The Australian Government is strongly supportive of the role of the ADF and its people. These recruitment results show we are heading in the right direction.

More information about ADF careers is available at www.defencejobs.gov.au or by calling 13 19 01.
ENDS

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