Australian Armed Forces Need Your Skills

Australia’s armed forces are looking overseas to ease a growing skills-crisis blamed partly on the country’s resources boom.

Figures obtained by The Weekend Australian show more than 1,500 technical vacancies in Australia’s armed forces alone need to be filled.

Britain and New Zealand have been the traditional recruiting pool for the ADF because of the similar levels of professional standards and training. British submariners had been attracted to the Royal Australian Navy in the past.

Ads are now being placed in Canadian and in US military publications.

• The 12,800-strong navy – the RAN - has 696 technical vacancies to fill and it has listed 38 job categories it will sponsor for permanent residency.
• Australia’s 13,000-strong air force - the RAAF - needs 457 technicians to service its jet fighters, transports and helicopters.
• The 25,000-strong Australian Army has 362 vacancies in its technical trades but this is expected to grow with the delivery of new Abrams tanks and armed reconnaissance helicopters.

Overseas people who wish to join Australia’s armed forces need to:

• Meet Australian immigration and permanent residency requirements.
• Obtain a national security clearance.
• Meet the same armed forces entry standards as Australians would.
• Become Australian citizens as soon as they are eligible to do so.

A defence spokeswoman said, “Overseas applications from foreign nationals with extensive military experience will be considered for positions where skill shortages exist in the ADF. Overseas recruitment is designed to supplement, but not replace, Australian domestic recruiting efforts.”

Navy vacancies include:

• aviation engineers
• helicopter pilots
• electronic warfare analysts for submarines
• chaplains
• musicians