[Brad Lockyer]

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is having something of a recruitment problem and is about 4400 people short of its personnel targets for this year. The ADF has announced plans to allow foreign permanent residents to fight, but one soldier believes this won’t be enough.

Wing Commander Kieren Joyce, who is a former drone pilot for the Air Force, told the Sydney Morning Herald the ADF needs to bump up its home deposit assistance scheme for new recruits.

Under current rules, once an ADF member has served for 12 months, they are eligible for a one-off payment of up to $16,949 to assist in buying a house.

Wg Cdr Joyce says the ADF needs to bump this up to at least $50,000 if it hopes to have any impact on recruitment numbers.

Although no moves have been made to raise the grant so far, the current government does seem to acknowledge the role housing can be a powerful recruitment tool. Soon after coming to power, Labor expanded the Defence Home Ownership Assistance Scheme which provides monthly home loan payment subsidies of between $500 and $1000 per month to defence personnel.

They also announced an inquiry into how defence home ownership schemes are designed and implemented.

“It is clear that 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,” the government said at the time.

[The Bronze Anzac]

Whilst I consider the one-off payment of $17K is good, it’s simply not good enough & should be $50K for a one-year assistance for house buying, I think a further incentive of up to $100K for 2 years is much better. I also believe that compulsory National Service should be reintroduced for all eligible unemployed & capable persons, especially for those who “claim” they are looking for work but cannot find it.

[Star Trekker]

I agree that compulsory National service is the way to go. All men and women from the age of eighteen that are not working and are able to should be in the ADF. They could learn a trade and give back to the community.

[ronloby]

Yes, Compulsory Nation Service for both men and women would help not only the ADF but it would get training for those without requirements needed for a job application. A couple of years in the ADF would also give people some confidence in themselves and the ability to look for work.

[Ken]

Australia prides itself on being the best multicultural nation in the world. I see no problems with the ADF culture embracing foreign recruits. Let’s put the QUAD to work and let the thousands of Indians join the ADF. The Indian army was once the pride of colonial postings for our British cousins.

[Couldabeen]

Traditionally a very fair proportion of Defence Force members have come from regional areas. In those areas, $16,949 would be a very good deposit on a home. Include that after eligible service, they also become eligible for very low rate home loans for their first home. Far better than are available to the general public.
What could be emphasized is that whilst a serving member of the ADF they can get very good assistance with both academic and industrial trades educations at no cost to themselves.
Many outside the ADF do not see the diversity of skills that a modern defence force needs on a daily basis. From that perspective, there is no reason why all citizens of this country should not do a minimum of two years within the ADF.
The old canards of health concerns that many used to evade service can be turned around and treatment can be available that can alleviate those conditions. Plus the icing is that any medical condition that is either caused by or aggravated by their conditions of service becomes eligible for free lifetime treatment and may be subject to a compensatory pension.
The most important point is that the individual must have a sense of nationalism and believe in Australia as the country that they know, love and want to support and live here and bring up their family in it.
Developing a strong unilateral pride in this country may be missing from our education system at present and may need to be reinvigorated.

[Allen Gilchrist]

First off Couldabe, not all medical things get you free treatment for your lifetime and I’m speaking from experience it’s all up to a board which things are covered. Second, the ADF needs to drop its education levels from having to have a degree to just having completed some years of high school, as it limits the number of people who can apply.

[Author]

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