Surprise finding in new ADF figures
Federal government figures released on Monday showed the ADF's permanent headcount grew by 1868 to 61,189 in the 2024-25 financial year.
Meanwhile, the number of personnel leaving service dropped 7.9 per cent – the lowest in 10 years.
The growth has put it well above the budget forecast of 59,373.
Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles praised the figures, saying the 'ADF is now growing again for the first time in almost four years'.
'While there is much more work to do, we are confident these positive trends will continue,' Mr Marles said.
While the numbers showed an improvement in stagnant recruitment rates, they also showed fewer than 10 per cent of applicants were getting into the ADF.
More than 75,000 people applied to join up over 2024-25, but enlistments totalled just 7059.
This was mostly due to lengthy processing times and stringent standards. The Australian Defence Force has fallen short of its recruitment target for 2024-25. NewsWire / Handout / Australian Defence Force / LAC Campbell Latch Credit: NewsWire
Defence Personnel Minister Matt Keogh said looser fitness and medical requirements, which have long been criticised as overly strict, had opened the door to more Australians seeking to serve.
'If you're doing something like cyber ops - you're working out of a basement, you're never leaving Australia - we don't need to have as strict requirements as might be required as someone who's going to be in an infantry force that's going to be deployable outside of Australia,' Mr Keogh said.
'We had a situation before where medical conditions like acne could automatically exclude someone from being able to enlist. Clearly, that's stupid in the 21st century.
'We're now making sure that our eligibility requirements match the more than 300 different types of roles that are available in the Defence Force.'
He also credited 'smarter' advertising, with recruiters taking to TikTok and other digital platforms to reach their target audience.
Against a backdrop of rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific, the Albanese government has set a permanent defence headcount target of at least 69,000 by the early 2030s.
The figure is crucial to ensuring Australia can crew its warships.
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