Senior ranks rise as overall personnel numbers decline

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The number of senior officers in Australia’s military has almost doubled over the past twenty years despite overall enlisted personnel levels steadily falling. New analysis from the parliamentary library also shows for each of those senior officers, there is just 260 other personnel serving under them.

Transcript

00:00 For the first time, we're getting a precise picture of just how many star-ranked officers

00:07 there are in the Australian Defence Force.

00:09 These figures are generally not publicised by the Defence Department.

00:14 And by star-ranked officers, we mean that in the Navy, that's a Commodore, a one-star

00:19 or higher, and in the Army, a Brigadier, or in the Air Force, an Air Commodore or higher.

00:25 So, the one-stars, two-stars and three-stars, and the four-star who runs the Defence Force.

00:32 What this data has shown, though, is that over the past 20 years, the number of those

00:37 senior officers has gone from around 119 to 219.

00:43 So, an increase of 100, almost double, but at the same time, we're seeing overall enlistment

00:50 numbers for the ADF steadily falling back in 1983.

00:56 The number was in the early 60,000s and now it's at around 57,000 full-time personnel

01:04 overall.

01:05 In any case, this data has come from the Parliamentary Library after it was requested by Green Senator

01:12 David Shoebridge.

01:14 He's quite scathing of the findings.

01:16 He says that it points to a very top-heavy military, one where it's like a growing galaxy

01:23 of stars, but very few actual ordinary ranked officers or lower that are carrying out the

01:32 tasks that are needed in the military.

01:34 Let's hear from David Shoebridge.

01:37 Every time there's a national security announcement, we get a new general, or we get a new admiral,

01:41 or we get a new air marshal.

01:43 But often, it's not connected to a new boat, a new plane, or a new tank.

01:47 Now, if stars kept Australia safe, we would have one of the most secure, most advanced

01:54 militaries in the world.

01:56 But I don't think that's the case.

01:58 Before the Defence Minister Richard Miles flew out for California last night, where

02:03 he'll be attending an AUKUS meeting, we did put some questions to his office.

02:08 There hasn't been a response as such yet, but certainly from Defence sources, I'm picking

02:13 up both at the officer level and below that it is a bit of a problem.

02:19 There is also an acknowledgement, though, with the changing nature of the way Defence

02:24 operates across all three services, there is a need for more coordinating-level leaders,

02:31 so they are at that star rank.

02:33 But there is also an acknowledgement that in comparison to other militaries, it is a

02:38 high ratio.

02:39 In Australia, it's one senior officer for every roughly 260 other personnel below them.

02:46 In the United States, it's a much larger ratio.

02:49 There's something like 1,500 ordinary personnel serving under a star-ranked officer.

02:55 So it's a bit out of kilter here in Australia.

02:58 However, the Australian continent sets up its own unique challenges for the ADF.

03:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended