It’s been over 50 years since we conscripted – could it ever return?

Australia will mark Anzac Day on April 25 but current global concerns already have military matters leading the news cycle. You may have heard the term “conscription*” or “national service” either in class or on the news – but many Australians are too young to remember compulsory military service ever happening here.

Enlisting in the Defence Force has been voluntary* in Australia since former prime minister Gough Whitlam abolished* conscription back in 1972 during the Vietnam War*.

But these are also tense times. Current conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine have global impacts and implications and it may surprise you to know that many countries still have compulsory military service to prepare for a national crisis.

Australia is not currently one of them, so let’s take a closer look at the always-controversial role conscription has played in our nation’s defence history.

AUSTRALIA’S HISTORY OF CONSCRIPTION
Conscription refers to mandatory* national military training and service for young men and in some countries women, which has been a contentious* practice in Australia ever since the Defence Act 1903 was introduced.

One of the very first pieces of legislation* passed by the newly formed Commonwealth Government, the Defence Act gave the government the power to conscript citizens for the purpose of home defence.

Importantly, however, the legislation did not allow soldiers to be conscripted for overseas service.

The Universal Service Scheme was the first system of compulsory military service in Australia and was passed into law in 1911. While the scheme operated throughout World War I, Labor abolished it when it was elected in October 1929.

Compulsory military service for duty within Australia was revived in 1939, shortly after the outbreak of World War II.

Compulsory military training was brought back in 1951 by the conservative Menzies Government as the National Service Scheme.

Abolished in 1959, compulsory national service was reintroduced in 1964. And when the Government of the day introduced new powers in May 1965, it meant that men completing compulsory national service could now be sent to serve overseas.

The Australian War Memorial site says that between 1965 to 1972, 15,381 national servicemen served in the Vietnam War, with 200 men killed and another 1279 wounded. The National Service Scheme was abolished on 5 December 1972 by the newly-elected Whitlam Labor government.

IS CONSCRIPTION EVEN POSSIBLE TODAY?
Under extraordinary circumstances, conscription could conceivably be revived Australia.

Under Part IV of the Defence Act 1903, all 18 to 60-year-old persons who have resided in Australia for at least six months could theoretically be called upon to serve in the Defence Force in time of conflict.

This call up to service would start with a proclamation* by the Governor-General*, which would then have to be approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate.

But University of Queensland Law School deputy dean, Professor Rain Liivoja, said the reintroduction of conscription was “highly unlikely.”

“It’s unclear what the Defence Force would do with a large number of conscripts,” Prof Liivoja told news.com.au.

“Australia has deployed a small number of Defence assets and personnel to support the UAE*. There is no indication of any mass deployment of Defence personnel.”

Professor Liivoja said that “even if the situation (in the Middle East) were to change”, conscription would still be extremely unlikely.

“Conscription in the context of the Vietnam War proved to be highly controversial,” Prof Liivoja said. “I can’t really imagine Australia going down the same path unless the conflict poses an existential* risk to us.”

ARE AUSTRALIANS ENLISTING VOLUNTARILY?
Australia has recorded some of its lowest recruitment numbers over the last decade. But in 2024-25, the Australian Defence Force enlisted 7,059 full-time personnel, making it the highest annual intake since 2009 and a 17 per cent increase on the previous year.

And University of Western Australia Defence and Security Institute Professor Jennifer Parker, a former Naval Officer of over 20 years, said that Australia should “not be contemplating conscription.”

“It would be a political risk with no reward,” she said. “When it comes to mobilisation like that, we would need to be in the midst of a major conflict to consider conscription.”

COULD WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST LEAD TO CONSCRIPTION IN AUSTRALIA?
Professor Parker said it was highly unlikely that the ongoing crisis in Iran and other parts of the Middle East would require mass numbers of troops.

But in the event of a wider conflict in the Indo-Pacific region, Prof Parker said conscription was theoretically “possible.”

“Politically, (conscription) would never fly in Australia unless we were facing a large conflict like that,” she said.

“The Australian Defence Force does not require that amount of numbers right now.”

Instead, Prof Parker suggested reserve forces should be restructured to “make it possible for people to work with the ADF part-time or once a month” rather than making a period of service mandatory.

HOW COMMON IS CONSCRIPTION WORLDWIDE?
Globally, 60 countries currently maintain mandatory military conscription, including South Korea, Israel, Russia, Turkey, Finland, Greece, Switzerland and Ukraine.

The number of countries going back to the drawing board on defence strategy has grown in recent years.

Earlier this month, Croatia reintroduced mandatory military service, after not having it since 2008, requiring males aged 18-30 to complete two months of basic military training.

Germany has now voted in favour of reinstating military service on a voluntary basis after it was abolished in 2011.

France abolished military conscription 25 years ago but has also introduced a new scheme that invites young men and women to serve for 10 months of paid military training.

Italy suspended compulsory military service on January 1, 2005.

POLL

GLOSSARY

• conscription: the act or process of forcing people by law to join the armed services
• voluntary: done, made, or given willingly, without being forced or paid to do it
• abolished: completely put an end to a particular practice
• Vietnam War: a long, divisive war starting in 1954 and ending in 1975, between South Vietnam (later aided by the US, South Korea, Australia, the Philippines, Thailand and New Zealand) and the Vietcong and North Vietnam
• mandatory: something that must be done, usually because the law states that it is necessary
• contentious: causing, involving, or likely to cause disagreement and argument
• legislation: a law or set of laws suggested by a government and made official by a parliament
• proclamation: formal, public, official announcement often about something of national importance
• Governor-General: His Majesty the King’s representative in Australia, the Governor-General (currently Sam Mostyn) is Australia’s proxy head of state, with a range of constitutional and ceremonial duties. The Governor-General is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Defence Force
• UAE: United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven emirates or separate states of the Persian Gulf: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al Qaiwain, Ras el Khaimah, and Fujairah
• existential: relating to existence, especially the human experience of existence

EXTRA READING

Middle East: What is happening?

Why we mark Anzac Day each year

What is Remembrance Day all about?

QUICK QUIZ

1. In what year was the Defence Act introduced?
2. The Australian Defence Force enlisted what number of full-time personnel in 2024-25?
3. How many countries currently maintain mandatory military conscription?
4. In the unlikely event of its happening, how would a call up to compulsory service start in Australia?
5. How many national servicemen served in the Vietnam War between 1965 to 1972, according to the Australian War Memorial?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Diary entry
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment for state service, typically into the armed forces.

Write a diary entry of conscription from the perspective of three key parties involved in the process:

A young person being conscripted

The parent of the young person being conscripted

Someone protesting against the war

Write a paragraph for each describing their feelings about it.

Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, History, Humanities, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
How do women fit in the modern day process of conscription in Australia and around the world?

Should they have the option to be included?

What would stop them from being conscripted?

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, History, Humanities, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
Wow word recycle
There are plenty of wow words (ambitious pieces of vocabulary) being used in the article. Some are in the glossary, but there might be extra ones from the article that you think are exceptional as well.

Identify all the words in the article that you think are not common words, and particularly good choices for the writer to have chosen.

Select three words you have highlighted to recycle into your own sentences.

If any of the words you identified are not in the glossary, write up your own glossary for them.

Extension
Find a bland sentence from the article to up-level. Can you add more detail and description? Can you replace any base words with more specific synonyms?

Down-level for a younger audience. Find a sentence in the article that is high level. Now rewrite it for a younger audience so they can understand the words without using the glossary.