Australian Defence Force

Australian Defence Force
The ADF Tri-Service Flag
Founded	1901
Current form	1976 (ADF established)
Service branches	Australian Army Royal Australian Navy Royal Australian Air Force
Headquarters	Part of the Australian Defence Organisation
Leadership
Commander-in-Chief	Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove
Minister for Defence	Marise Payne
Chief of the Defence Force	Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin
Manpower
Military age	16.5 years for selection process, 17 years to serve, 18 years to deploy on operations (2013)
Available for military service	4,999,988 males, age 16–49 (2009 est.), 4,870,043 females, age 16–49 (2009 est.)
Fit for military service	4,341,591 males, age 16–49 (2009 est.), 4,179,659 females, age 16–49 (2009 est.)
Reaching military age annually	144,959 males (2009 est.), 137,333 females (2009 est.)
Active personnel	58,061 (2015–16)
Reserve personnel	19,338 (2015–16)
Deployed personnel	2,241 (10 September 2015)
Expenditures
Budget	A$32.4 billion (2016–2017)
Percent of GDP	1.88 percent
Industry
Annual exports	Approximately $1.8 billion (2015)
Related articles
History	Military history of Australia
Ranks	Australian Defence Force ranks and insignia

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and a number of 'tri-service' units. The ADF has a strength of just over 80,000 full-time personnel and active reservists, and is supported by the Department of Defence and several other civilian agencies.

During the first decades of the 20th century, the Australian Government established the armed services as separate organisations. Each service had an independent chain of command. In 1976, the government made a strategic change and established the ADF to place the services under a single headquarters. Over time, the degree of integration has increased and tri-service headquarters, logistics and training institutions have supplanted many single-service establishments.

The ADF is technologically sophisticated but relatively small. Although the ADF's 58,061 full-time active-duty personnel and 19,338 active reservists make it the largest military in Oceania, it is still smaller than most Asian militaries. Nonetheless, the ADF is supported by a significant budget by worldwide standards and is able to deploy forces in multiple locations outside Australia.

The ADF's legal standing draws on the executive government sections of the Australian Constitution. Section 51(vi) gives the Commonwealth Government the power to make laws regarding Australia's defence and defence forces. Section 114 of the Constitution prevents the States from raising armed forces without the permission of the Commonwealth and Section 119 gives the Commonwealth responsibility for defending Australia from invasion and sets out the conditions under which the government can deploy the defence force domestically.

Section 68 of the Constitution sets out the ADF's command arrangements. The Section states that "the command in chief of the naval and military forces of the Commonwealth is vested in the Governor-General as the Queen's representative". In practice, the Governor-General does not play an active part in the ADF's command structure, and the elected government controls the ADF. The Minister for Defence and several subordinate ministers exercise this control. The Minister acts on most matters alone, though the National Security Committee of Cabinet considers important matters. The Minister then advises the Governor-General who acts as advised in the normal form of executive government. The Commonwealth Government has never been required by the Constitution or legislation to seek parliamentary approval for decisions to deploy military forces overseas or go to war.