People are critical to our . Australia faces not only a volatile Indo-Pacific region but also the prospect of increased deployment of ADF personnel to help with floods, fires and cyclones. .
or signup to continue reading In 2022, then-prime minister Scott Morrison committed to increasing the size of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to . Promises are easy - delivering on them is hard. Last year's highlighted the ADF's difficulties both in recruitment and retention, revealing that Australia remains short more than 4000 soldiers, sailors and aviators.
Today the final report of the will be delivered to Governor-General Samantha Mostyn. Australia's response to that report will have important implications for the ADF and well beyond. Earlier this year Commissioner Nick Kaldas told Defence leaders that, without change, the ADF could not be an employer of choice nor attract the right people during a time of risk and uncertainty.
"Fixing the cultural issues we've identified," Kaldas stressed to the top brass, "will help stop the revolving door of employee turnover that poses a real risk to Australia's Defence capability." The royal commission was established, albeit reluctantly, in 2021 following sustained pressure from families who had lost serving and veteran family members to suicide. Any sense that such a response was unwarranted was blown out of the water when the .
Commissioner Dr Peggy Brown, a psychiatrist well known to Canberrans as a former director-general of ACT Health, .
