2016 DEFENCE WHITE PAPER

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CHAPTER SIX: PEOPLE
Growing the integrated Defence workforce
6.6 Defence’s total workforce is currently made up of around 58,000
Permanent members of the ADF, around 19,500 paid and active
Reservists, and around 17,900 full-time equivalent APS employees.
This integrated workforce has a diverse range of skills, including in
combat and combat support, capability development and sustainment,
technical, strategy, policy, intelligence and planning, and engineering,
scientific and language skills.
SECTION TWO CAPABILITY
6.7 As Defence adopts new and more complex capabilities, the demands
on the integrated workforce will increase. New technologies will
require new skills and will rely even more than now on the diverse
range of skills of the integrated workforce. To meet these demands, the
Government will undertake the largest single rebalance of the integrated
Defence workforce in a generation through the implementation of the
First Principles Review.
Permanent Australian Defence Force
6.8 Under the plans in this Defence White Paper, the Permanent ADF
workforce will grow to around 62,400 personnel over the next decade.
This is an increase of around 2,500 over previous plans and will support
the introduction of new capabilities. The new ADF positions will cover
air, land and sea combat roles as well as intelligence, cyber security and
enabling capabilities. This will return the Permanent ADF to its largest
size since 1993. In addition to overall growth, the transition to the future
force will require the reallocation of around 2,300 existing ADF positions
to higher priority activities as new capabilities are delivered in this
decade and beyond.
6.9 The scale of the rebalance of the ADF workforce reflects the importance
of continually reviewing and matching our people to the highest priority