Editing Australian Defence Force (section)

===Personnel numbers===
{{asof|2024|6|30|post=,}} the ADF comprised 57,226 permanent (full-time) and 32,560 active reserve (part-time) personnel.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date= |title=Defence Annual Report 2023-24 |url=https://www.defence.gov.au/about/accessing-information/annual-reports}}</ref> Compared to 57,036 permanent and 24,028 active reserve personnel ten years prior in June 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Defence Annual Report 2013-14 |url=https://www.defence.gov.au/about/accessing-information/annual-reports}}</ref> The Army is the largest service, followed by the RAAF and RAN. The ADO also employed 19,831 civilian [[Australian Public Service]] (APS) staff as at 30 June 2024.<ref name=":0" /> During the 2023–24 financial year 5,297 people enlisted in the ADF on a permanent basis and 5,422 left, representing a net loss of 125 personnel.<ref name=":0" /> 

The distribution of ADF personnel between the services and categories of service on 30 June 2024 was as follows:<ref name=":0" />

{| class=wikitable <!-- border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" -->
|- style="background:#efefef;"
|'''Service'''||'''Permanent'''||'''Active<br />Reserve'''||'''Total'''
|-
|Navy||align=right|14,742|| align="right" |4,844|| align="right" |'''19,586'''
|-
|Army||align=right|27,223|| align="right" |21,375|| align="right" |'''48,598'''
|-
|Air Force||align=right|15,261|| align="right" |6,341|| align="right" |'''21,602'''
|-
|'''Total'''||align=right|'''57,226'''|| align="right" |'''32,560'''|| align="right" |'''89,786'''
|}

[[File:Australian Defence Force permanent force personnel strengths 2002-03 to 2015-16.jpg|thumb|The average permanent strengths of the services between the 2002–03 and 2015–16 financial years{{sfn|Thomson|2016|p=61}}]]

The number of ADF personnel has changed over the last 20 years. During the 1990s the strength of the ADF was reduced from around 70,000 to 50,000 permanent personnel as a result of budget cuts and the outsourcing of some military functions. The ADF began to grow from 2000 after the defence white paper released that year called for an expansion to the military's strength, though the size of the military decreased between the 2003–04 to 2005–06 financial years due to problems with attracting further recruits. By 2009–10 the ADF was above its budgeted size, leading to reductions until 2014–15. The size of the ADF grew between the 2014–15 and 2016–17 financial years.{{sfn|Thomson|2017|p=64}} The ADF has not met its recruitment targets over the period since the 1995–96 financial year.{{sfn|Thomson|2017|p=65}}

In March 2022 Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that by 2040 the strength of the ADF would grow by around 30% to be almost 80,000 permanent personnel. The expansion is estimated to cost at least A$38 billion which includes increasing the number of APS personnel.<ref>{{cite press release |author1=Prime Minister Scott Morrison |title=Defence workforce to grow above 100,000 |url=https://www.pm.gov.au/media/defence-workforce-grow-above-100000 |website=Prime Minister of Australia |date=10 March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Hellyer |first1=Marcus |title=Where will Defence find 18,500 more people? |url=https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/where-will-defence-find-18500-more-people/ |access-date=7 May 2022 |work=The Strategist |publisher=The Australian Strategic Policy Institute |date=17 March 2022}}</ref>

In June 2024, the government announced a new policy to grow the ADF as outlined in the ''National Defence Strategy'' released in April 2024.<ref name="ADFpermresidents">{{cite press release |author1=Minister for Defence Richard Marles |author2=Minister for Defence Personnel Matt Keogh |title=Australian Defence Force opens recruitment to non-Australian citizens |url=https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/media-releases/2024-06-04/australian-defence-force-opens-recruitment-non-australian-citizens |website=Department of Defence Ministers |access-date=25 July 2024 |date=4 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |author=Minister for Defence Richard Marles |title=2024 National Defence Strategy |url=https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/media-releases/2024-04-17/2024-national-defence-strategy |website=Department of Defence Ministers |access-date=25 July 2024 |date=17 April 2024}}</ref> Under the policy, [[Australian permanent resident|permanent residents]] who have lived in Australia for 12 months from countries in the [[Five Eyes]] alliance will become eligible to join the ADF.<ref name="ADFpermresidents"/><ref name="ABCpermresidents">{{cite news |last1=Manfield |first1=Evelyn |last2=Lowrey |first2=Tom|title=Australian Defence Force recruitment to be opened to foreign citizens, causes government confusion |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-04/foreign-citizen-australian-defence-force-recruitment-opened/103931146 |access-date=25 July 2024 |work=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]] |publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] |date=4 June 2024}}</ref> From July 2024, [[New Zealand]] permanent residents will be eligible to join the ADF.<ref name="ADFpermresidents"/> From January 2025, permanent residents from the [[United Kingdom]], [[United States]] and [[Canada]] will be eligible to join the ADF.<ref name="ADFpermresidents"/> Once the person has served 90 days in the ADF they will become eligible for Australian citizenship and would be expected to apply.<ref name="ABCpermresidents"/>

The ADF is small compared to [[List of countries by number of military and paramilitary personnel|many other national militaries]]. Both the number of personnel in the ADF and the share of the Australian population this represents is smaller than that in many countries in Australia's immediate region. Several [[NATO]] member countries, including France and the United States, also have a higher share of their population in the military.{{sfn|Thomson|2005|pp=4–5}} This is a continuation of long-term trends, as outside of major wars Australia has always had a relatively small military. The size of the force is a result of Australia's relatively small population and the military being structured around a maritime strategy focused on the RAN and RAAF rather than a manpower-intensive army.{{sfn|Thomson|2005|p=5}}{{sfn|Australian Government|2014|p=33}}