The Australian Defence Force continues to be a leading role model in gender equality in jobs. Women are spread throughout the different ranks of the Air Force, Navy and Army.
Why are they role models?
The ADF has recently upped their campaigns for gender equality and have continued to improve their attitude and statistics with women in the ADF. The current numbers stand at 930+ women in various active “combat and security roles” such as military police, firefighters and ground crew. The ADF acted as a role model for the US Army, being ahead of them in removing the ban on women in combat roles. This allowed women to actively be involved in front-line duties and jobs.
Why is this such a big issue?
Australia was one of the first countries to recruit women in nearly every role in the military. Some jobs that are excluded include clearance diving teams from the Navy and infantry, armour and combat engineers in the Army. Before these attempts to increase the women in the ADF, the
numbers were devastatingly low, and women were excluded from many jobs. Before placing the spotlight on these issues, discrimination and exclusion in the ADF was not a rare sight. Examples of this discrimination can be seen in various scandals throughout the ADF’s history, including a 2011 Skype sex scandal involving a male ADFA cadet filming a female ADFA cadet without her consent.
The stats?
Women currently make up 15.4% of the permanent ADF workforce and 266 women are serving in current overseas operations. Females in the defence force also hold 18.6% of the positions in the Navy, 11.8% of positions in the Army and 18.2% of positions in the Air Force.
My opinion?
The ADF continues to be one of the leading nations in gender equality in the military. Other countries and militaries should look up to our military and implement the various programs and systems put in place in order to show that the military is for men and women alike.
Bibliography:
MHS Economics 2019 