Defence bureaucracy grows while ADF falls 3700 recruits short of target

An incoming brief prepared by Defence, obtained by The Canberra Times, revealed that a total of 4338 personnel entered the ADF as of April 2025, sitting far below an annual recruitment goal of 8105.

The department brief provided to the minister in May claimed that this was a 75 per cent achievement of its year-to-date recruitment target, which was 5757.

Defence has for years failed to meet annual recruitment targets for the army, navy, and air force, which has been driven by drawn-out recruitment processes and strict standards for potential applicants.

The department projects the military will reach a strength of 59,373 personnel during 2025-26, an annual growth of 462 recruits.

The military will recruit 2772 personnel by the early 2030s based on Defence's forecasts, despite a goal to grow the size of the ADF to 69,000 by the early 2030s to address rising geopolitical tensions.

The permanent ADF headcount has for a decade hovered between 57,000 and 59,000, with little change since 2010, according to a Canberra Times analysis of defence's annual reports.

Meanwhile, the number of APS Defence staff has ballooned from 16,888 in 2019 to 19,863 in 2025, increasing by nearly 10 per cent in the most recent financial year.

Defence Minister Richard Marles flagged an overhaul of senior defence positions in June after warning the department needed to be "fit-for-purpose" to deliver billions in critical military projects over the coming decades.

A report published by The Australian this week claimed that the department was considering reducing the number of senior military officers by at least 10 per cent, with potentially larger cuts for department executives.

This masthead reached out to a spokesperson for Mr Marles and the Department of Defence for comment.

Acting Coalition defence spokesperson Michaelia Cash accused the federal Labor government of failing to address ongoing recruitment and retention issues in the defence force.

"Despite repeated warnings and clear shortfalls against its own targets, Labor has allowed conditions to deteriorate and is offering no effective strategy to turn the trend around," Senator Cash wrote in a statement.

The government recently expanded retention bonuses of $40,000 for personnel who choose to remain in the military for an additional three years after serving an initial four years of mandatory service, which rolled out on July 1.

The government is also planning to include citizens from Papua New Guinea under its plan to allow foreign-born citizens to join the ADF, which, due to significant delays in recruiting processes, saw just three Kiwis enlisted in the army, navy and air force.