Diverse Defenders
The Age
Saturday March 22, 2008
The Federal Government is looking for ways to diversify the Australian Defence Force so that it more closely reflects the wider population.
Warren Snowdon, Minister for Defence Personnel, says women, indigenous and overseas-born Australians are under-represented in the army, navy and air force. Women make up only 12% to 13% of the ADF, Mr Snowdon says, yet at least 90% of Defence Force jobs are open to women, including front-line roles flying aircraft and serving on ships and submarines, and at war-zone headquarters.The military's under-representation of Australia's ethnic groups is shown by a 2003 defence census finding that 87% of serving personnel were Australian-born, compared with 70.9% of the general population. Indigenous Australians are estimated to comprise 0.6% of ADF personnel.Mr Snowdon says defence recruitment has been numerically successful except in specialist trades and some functions - especially submarines - but retention "is a real issue"."I think we've got to look at our messages," Mr Snowdon says. "One of the things we have to do is see if we can't have a more constructive and creative dialogue with people from non-English speaking backgrounds." Mr Snowdon says he is looking at the model used by Victoria Police to attract recruits from a range of backgrounds.To encourage more indigenous ADF recruits, the Government will build on the contact between Aborigines in remote communities and army units.Indigenous Australians account for 48% of Norforce, the 570-strong regional surveillance unit based in Darwin and 47% of a similar unit based in far north Queensland, Mr Snowdon says. "I think we have to look at our entry requirements and free things up, but not lower our standards." For example, recruits with minor convictions will now be accepted into the ADF, and some medical requirements can be relaxed slightly.Another recruiting strategy is to identify advocates among young people in the ADF, who would communicate with their friends and peer groups.The military gap year for school leavers, which was introduced by the previous government and is being evaluated as part of a review of defence recruitment, should promote this goal and has been "encouraging", Mr Snowdon says - regardless of the intern's ultimate career decision. "It's positive if they join the ADF, but having them join the reserves is a positive outcome, and doing something different is also positive ," he says.
© 2008 The Age