Australia Must Urgently Strengthen Its Reserve Forces
ED: From my inbox – Martin Reid
With growing uncertainty about the reliability of key allies, Australia must prepare to defend itself—potentially alone. This requires a national effort to enhance defence capabilities, as outlined in the Defence Strategic Review (DSR). A key priority is the restructuring of the reserves to create a larger, better-trained, and rapidly deployable force.
The current reserve system is outdated, designed decades ago for supporting distant conflicts rather than responding to regional threats. The 2023 DSR highlighted the need for a more robust force structure, greater endurance, and stronger national resilience. However, the recent Review of the ADF Reserves fails to address these urgent needs. Instead, it offers administrative adjustments rather than a strategic plan for expansion and rapid mobilisation.
As of early 2024, around 41,000 personnel were registered as ADF reserves, but 10,000 had never served. The remaining 31,000 primarily filled specialist roles or gaps in permanent units. The review proposes only minor process reforms, including three categories of reserve service, accelerated entry pathways, and an additional 1,000 personnel by 2030—far from the transformation needed.
Given recruitment limitations for permanent personnel, expanding the reserves must be a priority. Many advanced democracies use different reserve models. Australia follows an expeditionary model, suitable for nations engaging in distant wars but not facing imminent threats. Countries with direct threats, such as Finland, Israel, and Singapore, rely on large, well-trained reserves that can mobilise within days. The United States employs a hybrid model with a sizable reserve force supporting its permanent military.
Australia must transition from its outdated expeditionary model to a homeland defence or hybrid system. The current framework lacks the resilience to expand in time for a major conflict, which could arise within years. A new reserve force must be significantly larger, better equipped, and capable of rapid deployment. Recruitment and training processes must be streamlined, and greater access to national skillsets, particularly in intelligence, cyber, medical, and logistics, should be facilitated.
Achieving this transformation requires leadership, cultural change, and public engagement. The government must articulate the security risks facing Australia, justify the need for these changes, and encourage enlistment in a strengthened reserve force.
A credible action plan is needed now. The time to build a modern, capable reserve force was yesterday. We cannot afford further delays.
