Australian Defence Force hunts foreign recruits

World Affairs Talk
Wednesday, 07 March 2007
It emerged that Australian Defence Force recruiters are increasingly looking overseas to ease the growing skills crisis that is being observed lately. In past few weeks, The Royal Australian Navy listed 38 job categories it will sponsor for permanent residency; over 1500 technical defence vacancies alone need to be filled. While the Australian Government has been satisfied to announce its $22 billion defence spending splurge, little thought have been given to the ‘number of highly trained men and women’ needed to run the force. The 12,800 member strong Navy has now 696 technical vacancies to be filled in. The Royal Australian Navy is willing to sponsor permanent residency visas through a special agreement with the federal departments of Employment and Workplace Relations, and Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. There is no restriction to foreigners from any country joining the ADF (Australian defense force). Foreign nationals may join the force in competition with other suitable applicants irrespective of previous military service; they must meet Australian immigration and permanent residency requirements as well as the normal entry standards. Overseas applications from foreign nationals with extensive military experience will be considered for positions where skill shortages exist in the ADF. Navy vacancies include aviation engineers, helicopter pilots and electronic warfare analysts for submarines, chaplains and musicians. It is a similar story with the RAAF. With a nominal permanent strength of 13,000, the air force needs 457 technicians to keep its fleet of jet fighters, transports and helicopters at peak operational readiness. The Army appears to be faring best of the three services. The 25,000 strong force has 362 vacancies in its technical trades. But with the delivery of new Abrams tanks now under way, and armed reconnaissance helicopters rolling off the assembly line in Queensland, senior commanders are becoming increasingly concerned at a growing deficiency in skilled personnel. While Britain and New Zealand have been the traditional recruiting pool for the ADF because of the similar levels of professional standards and training, the dragnet has been extended to Canada and now the US where ads have been placed in military publications seeking appropriately skilled new recruits for the ADF. The Australian Defence Association's Neil James said there was no magic solution to solve the recruitment crisis. This may be a long term process. -End- Share & Bookmark

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