AU STR ALIA
Australia
Population: 20.2 million (4.8 million under 18)
Government armed forces: 51,600
Compulsory recruitment age: no conscription
Voluntary recruitment age: 17
Voting age: 18
Optional Protocol: ratified 26 September 2006 Other treaties ratified (see glossary):
CRC, GC AP I and II, ICC, ILO 182
As of mid-2007, there were nearly 500
under-18s serving in the armed forces,
including girls.
Context
Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel
participated in a major government crackdown,
which included forced medical examinations for
children, on reported widespread child abuse
among Aboriginal communities in 2007. This
in turn prompted fears among the community
members of a return to former assimilation
policies that saw a “stolen generation” of
children forcibly removed and placed with nonAboriginal families.1
In July 2005 the government abandoned
its policy of detaining child asylum seekers in
high-security facilities, but unaccompanied
children continued to be detained under guard,
and criticism of the government’s asylum and
immigration policies continued.2
Government
National recruitment legislation
and practice
There was no conscription in Australia, but the
1903 Defence Act allowed for its introduction in
time of war by a proclamation approved by both
houses of parliament (Section 60). The minimum
conscription age was specified as 18 (Section
59). The legal basis for voluntary recruitment
was provided by the Defence Act (Article 34), the
Naval Defence Act 1910 (Article 24) and the 1923
Air Force Act (Article 4E).3
The Defence Instructions of 2005 specified 17
as the minimum voluntary recruitment age for all
three armed forces (Article 4). However, children
could apply to join the armed forces at 16 years
and 6 months. Children from the age of ten were
encouraged to register their details with an
online service that could put them in contact with
armed forces recruitment officers. The Defence
Instructions stated that all personnel wishing to
join the armed forces had to present an original
or certified copy of their birth certificate to their
recruiting officer (Article 5) and that all under-18s
had to have the written informed consent of their
parents or guardians (Article 6). All applicants
wishing to join the armed forces had to be fully
informed of the nature of their future duties and
responsibilities (Article 7), and the recruitment of
all children had to be genuinely voluntary (Article
8).4
The Defence Instructions stated that the
armed forces had to take “all feasible measures”
to ensure that under-18s did not participate in
hostilities (Article 10), and outlined a number
of limited safeguards, including that under-18s
should not be deployed in areas of operations
where there was a likelihood of hostile action
“to the maximum extent possible, and where
it will not adversely impact on the conduct of
operations” (Article 11). However, a commander
was not obliged to remove an under-18 from
direct participation in hostilities in certain
circumstances, including “where it would
prejudice the effectiveness of the mission”
(Article 13).5
Australia’s declaration on ratification of
the Optional Protocol in 2006 stated that the
minimum age of voluntary recruitment was 17;
that proper documentation of age and informed
consent of parents or guardians of under-18s
were required; that all applicants be fully
informed of their duties and responsibilities; and
that recruiting officers had to be satisfied that
applications for enlistment of under-18s were on
a “genuinely voluntary basis”.6
Following ratification of the Optional Protocol,
the Criminal Code Act (1995) was amended in
2007 to provide for a series of criminal penalties
for individuals who used, conscripted or enlisted
children under the age of 15 into the national
armed forces or under the age of 18 into a force
or group other than the national armed forces
in both international or non-international armed
conflicts.7
In October 2005 the Defence Force
Ombudsman released the report from his
investigation into the management and
administration of under-age personnel in the
armed forces. It included a recommendation that
the forces undertake an analysis of the costs
and benefits of accepting children for enlistment
in the ADF, with a view to determining whether
the enlistment age should be raised to 18 years.
The Defence Department disagreed with the
recommendation, claiming that to raise the
minimum age would “severely restrict the quality
and quantity of recruits”.8
Military training and military schools
In its declaration on ratification of the Optional
Protocol in 2006, Australia stated that the
minimum voluntary recruitment age of 17 did
not apply to military schools. Nor did it apply
CHILD SOLDIERS GLOBAL REPORT 2008
to cadet schemes, “members of which are not
recruited into, and are therefore not members of,
the ADF”.9
The Australian Defence Force Cadets
describes itself as a “community-based youth
development organization” of 22,000 cadets
and 2,100 cadet staff in 475 units and squadrons
across Australia, funded by the government
through the Department of Defence. The
minimum age of recruitment is 12 years and 6
months for navy and army cadets, and 13 for
air force cadets. Training included weapons
handling. The cadet force was considered a path
to a defence career, and “a safe and fun militarylike experience”.10
Child recruitment and deployment
As of 27 July 2007, there were a total of 486
under-18s serving in the armed forces, including
62 girls. The government stated that it had no
record of children being deployed into areas of
operations.11
Disarmament, demobilization,
and reintegration (DDR)
The government was providing Australian
$200,000 to help UNICEF and the UN Special
Representative for Children and Armed Conflict
undertake the ten-year strategic review of the
1996 Machel study, “The Impact of Armed Conflict
on Children”.12
Developments
International standards
Australia ratified the Optional Protocol in
September 2006, the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court in July 2002 and ILO
Convention 182 in December 2006.13
1 Reuters, “Australia’s Aborigines fear losing
children”, 26 June 2007.
2 Children out of Detention, www.chilout.org/;
Mary Crock, Seeking Asylum Alone: Australia,
Harvard, 2006, www.humanrights.harvard.edu.
3 Commonwealth of Australia Law, www.comlaw.
gov.au.
4 Department of Defence, “Recruitment and
employment of members under 18 years in the
Australian Defence Force”, Defence Instructions
(General), 4 July 2005; “Underage candidates”;
“Recruitment and employment of members
under 18 years in the Australian Defence Force”,
Defence Instructions (General), 4 July 2005; all at
www.defencejobs.gov.au.
5 Department of Defence, “Recruitment and
employment of members under 18 years in the
Australian Defence Force”, above note 4.
6 Declaration on ratification of the Optional
Protocol, www2.ohchr.org.
CHILD SOLDIERS GLOBAL REPORT 2008
7 Commonwealth of Australia Law, above note 3.
8 Commonwealth and Defence Force Ombudsman,
“Australian Defence Force: management of
service personnel under the age of 18 years”,
October 2005, www.comb.gov.au.
9 Declaration, above note 6.
10 Department of Defence, Defence Force Cadets,
www.cadetnet.gov.au.
11 Child Soldiers Coalition correspondence with
Ministry of Defence, October 2007.
12 Ibid.
13 Ratification of the Optional Protocol, above note
6; ICC Assembly of States Parties, www.icc-cpi.
int/; International Labour Standards, www.ilo.org
(ilolex database).