Retention turned the ADF’s recruitment surge into workforce growth

The Australian Defence Force has expanded to its largest size in 25 years after improving both recruitment and retention. More than 8,100 people enlisted during 2025–26, the strongest intake in 16 years, while the separation rate fell from 7.9% to a 15-year low of 7.4%. Together, these movements increased the permanent and full-time workforce by more than 3,000 to above 64,000 personnel. Recruitment increased across all three services, including the Air Force recording its strongest intake in 24 years. Figure 2 below shows that the turnaround was already underway in 2024–25, when 6,228 additions exceeded 4,562 separations and lifted permanent ADF headcount by 1,664.

Figure 2: Defence permanent workforce headcount, additions and separations (2024-25)

The result demonstrates why workforce growth is a stock-and-flow problem rather than simply a recruitment contest. Defence enlisted 7,059 personnel in 2024–25 but reached only 77% of its permanent-force inflow target. Nevertheless, headcount increased because the separation rate simultaneously fell from 9.5% to 7.9%. The subsequent combination of higher enlistments and fewer departures produced much stronger growth in 2025–26. Defence attributes the improvement to measures including faster recruitment, widened eligibility, improved employment conditions and the Continuation Bonus contained in its workforce strategy, although the contribution of individual measures cannot yet be isolated.

The broader corporate lesson is that additional hiring creates limited capacity when experienced employees continue leaving. Retention preserves accumulated training, specialist skills and institutional knowledge while allowing new employees to produce genuine workforce growth rather than merely replacing departures. However, financial incentives can defer exits without necessarily resolving underlying concerns around career progression, workload or organisational culture. Defence must also sustain this momentum, with the 2026–27 Budget projecting the permanent force will need to grow from 61,711 in 2025–26 to 67,466 by 2029–30. The latest improvement is therefore significant, but maintaining lower attrition will remain as important as attracting another record intake.

‍