Women in Defence

On 27 September 2011, the Australian Government formally agreed to remove gender restrictions from the Australian Defence Force (ADF) combat roles.

From January 2013, women currently serving as members of the ADF became entitled to apply for a career in a combat role, provided they meet all the requirements. Direct entry recruitment is expected to commence from January 2016.

As at 1 April 2015:

• 15.4 per cent (8 823) of the ADF permanent workforce are female.
• The breakdown is Navy 2,637 (19.0 per cent), Army 3 517 (12.0 per cent) and Air Force 2 669 (18.7 per cent).
• 266 women are serving on current overseas ADF operations, representing 14.9 per cent of the total deployed force.

Find out more about the Australian Defence Force.