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C O N F I D E N T I A L CANBERRA 000163 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/17/2019 
TAGS: MARR MCAP PREL AS
SUBJECT: AUSTRALIAN MILITARY RECRUITMENT FLAT DESPITE POOR 
ECONOMY 
 
REF: 2008 CANBERRA 434 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor James F. Cole for reasons 1.4(b) and 
 (d) 
 
SUMMARY 
----- 
 
¶1. (C/NF) Contrary to recent media reports of recruiting 
increases linked to potentially poor domestic economic 
performance from the global financial crisis, there has been 
no change in actual recruiting levels.  Systemic personnel 
issues limit Australian Defence Force (ADF) staffing 
flexibility, create critical shortages at certain officer 
levels, and complicate policies targeted to balance career 
and lifestyle. The ADF continues to fall short on overall 
recruiting goals by 15 to 25 percent and expects shortfalls 
in meeting its needs for critical skills, which will be 
offset at least partially by prolonging retention bonus 
payments.  The ADF is seeking to boost armed forces levels by 
2016 from 53,000 to 57,000 through creative advertising and 
promotional efforts targeted at Generation Y.  This planned 
increase includes increasing Army troops from the current 
level of 26,500 to 30,000.  Increasing the ADF is a strategic 
necessity for Australian defense planning and in 2006, a 
budget of more than USD 600 million was allocated to achieve 
these recruitment goals.  In 2007-08, the budget was 
increased by an additional USD 1.4 billion.  Meanwhile, the 
ADF is turning to reservists to fill more than 1,000 position 
gaps in the regular forces annually.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Commodore Tim Barrett, CSC RAN, Director General of 
Defence Force Recruiting for the Australian Defence Force 
(ADF), and Brigadier Gerard Fogarty, AM, the Director General 
Personnel - Army, recently briefed DAO and POL on ADF 
personnel and recruiting issues. 
 
ECONOMIC DOWNTURN NOT YIELDING STAFFING BENEFITS 
------------------------ 
 
¶3. (C/NF) Despite the negative effects of the global 
financial crisis on the Australian economy, including 
gradually rising unemployment, now up to 4.8 percent, ADF 
recruiting results for its all-volunteer force have not 
changed, according to Barrett.  While recent data shows that 
applications have increased by more than 20%, this has not 
translated into actual enlistment increases.  He advised that 
ADF is evaluating both applicant quality and the ability of 
recruiters to successfully complete the recruitment process. 
The ADF maintains that they are not an employer of "last 
resort" and will adhere to standards and policies that keep 
them an employer of "first choice". 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Commodore Barrett and Brigadier Fogarty both 
indicated that studies have shown no correlation between 
downturns in the domestic economy and increases in 
recruitment.  Commodore Barrett indicated that many of the 
employees now surplus in the automobile industry are second 
and third generation contract laborers with little interest 
in moving away from their neighborhoods.  He noted that 
mining workers have already adapted to mobility issues and as 
mining jobs decline, may be more interested in the stable 
employment offered by the military over a four- to six-year 
enlistment. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) While recruiting efforts have yielded some success 
in overall numbers, the ADF is not getting the right mix of 
skills needed.  Thirteen of 150 Army trades are classified as 
critical, each of which has a three-year training period to 
reach the desired skill level.  Critical skills include 
engineers, technicians, linguists and medical personnel.  In 
2006, after several years of failing to achieve personnel 
 
growth targets, more than USD 2.0 billion was allocated to 
stem attrition through payment of retention bonuses.  Bonus 
payments have been focused on the critical skill sets, 
including bonuses of US$42,000 to submariners for an 
additional 18 months of service and US$14,000 bonuses to Air 
Force plumbers, carpenters and electricians for an additional 
24 months of service. 
 
SYSTEMIC LIMITS TO GROWTH AND FLEXIBILITY 
----------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Brig. Fogarty explained that throughout the 1990's, 
the ADF was directed to reduce its force levels from a high 
of almost 70,000 regular forces in 1990.  This was 
accomplished through normal attrition, adjustments to annual 
recruiting targets, and establishment of rules and policies 
 
that discouraged personnel from remaining in the ADF for long 
periods.  Many of these rules and policies are still on the 
books, negatively affecting current efforts to improve 
recruiting and retention.  One such policy is the ADF's 
open-ended enlistment, in place since the 1980's.  Service 
members can resign with six months notice after initial 
commitment periods of four to six years.  Brig. Fogarty 
expects the ADF will move toward fixed re-enlistment 
contracts. 
 
¶7.  (C/NF) Under current Defence management structure, all 
Defence civilians and some contractors report to the 
Secretary of Defence, while uniformed personnel report to the 
Chief of Defence Force (CDF).  To maintain control over 
management and staffing levels, CDF often uses uniformed 
personnel for positions that could be filled by civilians, 
reducing availability of uniformed personnel for other 
duties.  Brig. Fogarty advised that the 2009 Defence White 
Paper is expected to recommend moving all Defence personnel, 
including civilians, under the control of the CDF, allowing 
greater opportunity to optimize the mix of civilian and 
uniformed personnel.  He also advised that the White Paper 
will surprisingly recommend changes to existing rules that 
financially penalize movement from uniformed to civilian 
roles, further increasing staffing flexibility. 
 
OFFICER SHORTAGES 
------ 
 
¶8.  (SBU) A systemic factor aggravating retention is the 
promotion system at lower officer levels.  Promotions up 
through two-stripe Corporals are controlled at the Unit 
Commander level.  Privates take approximately 5.7 years to 
reach Corporal level, while many Privates are only on a 
four-year enlistment.  Consequently, many are leaving at the 
end of their contract periods without having been promoted, 
creating shortages at the Corporal level and above.  Without 
a continual supply of new leaders at the Corporal level, 
leadership voids impact at the lowest unit levels.  Increased 
recruits will not meet long-term officer needs without 
parallel changes in promotion practices.  Brig. Fogarty is 
discussing different approaches to promotion evaluations with 
Unit Commanders to increase promotions and reduce attrition 
at these levels. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Another shortfall occurs at the mid-level rank of 
Captain/Major.  In 1995, the ADF cut two classes from their 
regular schedule at Duntroon Royal Military Academy.  The 
impact of this has been to reduce available candidates for 
mid-level officer positions.  Without sufficient officers in 
the pipeline for these ranks, the ADF has had to offer 
retention bonuses of USD 40,000 for an additional two years 
of service.  Brig. Fogarty noted that it has taken more than 
USD 28 million to increase the retention rate for these 
officers from 91 percent to 93 percent.  However, ADF has 
learned from this experience to target the retention payments 
more efficiently in the future. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Senior officer compensation rules discourage 
promotion from O5 to O6.  O5 officers are about 38-39 years 
old and once promoted, would normally serve in just two or 
three more jobs before moving up or being offered a "golden 
handshake" of 13 months pay.  Most would find it difficult to 
replicate their ADF compensation package in the private 
sector and as a result, are not eager to move up - or out of 
- the ranks. 
 
ATTRITION AND CAREER - LIFESTYLE BALANCE 
------------- 
 
¶11.  (SBU) The five-year rolling average for Army attrition 
 
is currently 11.5% with a goal of 10.0%.  Both Commodore 
Barrett and Brig. General Fogarty indicated that ADF 
retention programs will continue to focus on improving the 
balance between career and lifestyle, a key reason given in 
Defence personnel surveys for leaving the military. 
 
¶12.  (C/NF) Work lifestyle balance issues may also drive 
changes to assignment processes and future base 
rationalizations.  Unlike in the past, ADF personnel now 
change jobs every two years and with many Army bases spread 
across the country, geographical moves disrupt schooling and 
employment opportunities for other family members.  The 2009 
Defence White Paper will include recommendations to extend 
assignments to three years, with possible back-to-back 
assignments at one location.  Another arrangement will keep 
the family based in one location with the service member 
making regular family visits at ADF expense.  Another 
 
 
proposal would have the service member work three weeks at 
base and return to the family location for the fourth week. 
The ADF's housing policy will also focus aggressively on home 
ownership for service members, including home ownership in 
locations other than work assignment locations. 
 
RECRUITING SUCCESSES AND EFFORTS 
-------- 
 
¶13.  (U) ADF continues to influence potential recruits 
through many initiatives.  A recent Navy TV ad shows 7 days 
in the Navy in 30 seconds, showing a mix of work and leisure 
activities, as well as the "mateship" among Navy personnel. 
It closes with the line - "That was 7 days in the 
Navy...imagine what you could do in a career."  According to 
Commodore Barrett, the ad was targeted to address key 
misperceptions about Navy life, such as dull and monotonous 
work in a lonely environment.  The ad was successful in 
generating twice the number of SMS inquiries than received on 
previous advertisements. 
 
¶14.  (SBU) Commodore Barrett described other media efforts to 
target potential Gen Y recruits.  The Navy recently sponsored 
a "battle of the bands" to develop a new Navy song and ran 
the competition through MySpace.com.  Blogs will begin 
following a ship around the world to promote Navy life. 
Looking forward, Commodore Barrett expects to continue to use 
Web tools, such as gaming, to attract Gen Y recruits. 
 
¶15.  (SBU) Other recruiting efforts target women, Indigenous 
persons and certain ethnic groups with a higher propensity to 
serve in the military.  Commodore Barrett identified key 
barriers to service for each of these groups, as well as 
policy and process changes needed to remove these barriers. 
Changes include increasing flexibility to move in and out of 
the service to meet family needs, strong post-entry mentoring 
programs, and greater flexibility in directing assignments 
geographically, such as posting Indigenous recruits in the 
Northern Territory where they bring localized skills. 
 
RESERVES 
------- 
 
¶16.  (SBU) Use of ADF Army Reserves, now at a level of about 
16,600, for full-time service has now become compulsory. 
According to Brig. Fogarty, approximately 1,200 regular 
personnel are away from service at any time, leaving gaps 
that are filled with Reserve personnel for periods of one to 
three years.  Brig. Fogarty shared that specific long-term 
goals for the Reserves have not yet been identified. 
 
COMMENT 
----- 
 
¶17.  (C/NF) COMMENT:  The ADF is stretched at many points in 
management of personnel levels, with no quick or easy fixes. 
With too few recruits, a mismatch on needs and skills, 
limited flexibility among civilian and uniformed staffing, 
and disincentives to remaining with the ADF, the challenges 
in aligning force levels with strategic requirements are 
formidable.  Simultaneously, ADF is restructuring Force 
Command and control, creating significant change at senior 
levels of the service.  Rotations have also been extended 
from six to eight months, adding stress to current service 
members with possible negative impacts on potential recruits. 
 However, ADF Senior Officers seem realistic about the 
difficulties and focused on rectifying barriers to growth. 
They are using a full range of tools to understand the 
situation and have developed solutions that indicate 
significant flexibility with bureaucratic systems and 
processes.  It is a difficult challenge and it is reasonable 
to expect that it will take some time to achieve their 
 
staffing goals. In the interim, while the U.S. should not 
expect major changes in the overall level of Australia's 
defense cooperation, it is possible that Australia may face 
near-term constraints in its ability to contribute or staff 
higher-end, specialized functions in joint operations.  End 
Comment. 
 
CLUNE