Calls for Australian Defence Force to increase first homebuyer grants to $50,000 for recruits

An ex-soldier and drone warfare expert is calling for the Australian Defence Force to triple its home ownership grant to keep up with house prices and attract much-needed recruits.

Wing Commander Keirin Joyce said the Australian Defence Force could use its Home Purchase Assistance Scheme to attract more recruits.

When former Townsville soldier and drone warfare expert with the RAAF Keirin Joyce came home from service in East Timor in 2002 he bought a two-bedroom, one-bathroom home with a sleep-out in Seventh Avenue, South Townsville for $77,000.

The thing that helped the then 23-year-old aeronautical engineer get into housing market was the then-$12,000 grant through the Australian Defence Force’s Home Purchase Assistance Scheme.

Now, Wing Commander Joyce, Australian Defence Force, senior analyst to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, would like to see the now-$17,000 grant to home buyers upgraded to at least $50,000.

It was a long time ago now when Wing Commander Joyce, who served as a Blackhawk maintenance engineer with the 5th Aviation Regiment in Townsville, bought that house in South Townsville.

He has since seen service in Iraq and Afghanistan and now lives in Canberra, but throughout all of this, the wars and the overseas deployments, one thing never changed and that was the rise and rise of house prices in Australia.

“It was $12,000 then when I bought the house in Seventh Avenue but the scheme now at its present rate of $17,000 is not keeping pace with house prices in Australia where the average price for a home is $933,000,” he said.

He sees the scheme as a carrot that can be dangled as an incentive to get young Australians into the ADF, but the carrot has to be put on a steroid drip in order to get people marching into recruitment offices around the nation.

His view is that in Australia tens of thousands of young people feel locked out of the housing market by out-of-reach prices, but that if the ADF dangled a bigger carrot in front of these disillusioned young Aussies more would be encouraged to enlist knowing serving their country could see them owning their own home.

Officer cadet Keirin Joyce pictured in 2000 with dachshund-kelpie cross Dash, mascot of 17th Division in the Australian Defence Force Academy. Photo: Sandra Priestley.

If enlistment and serving the country came with the means to getting the keys to the great Australian dream of home ownership, Millennials, Gen Z and those coming behind them wanting the chance to buy a home would be encouraged to sign on the dotted line.

“The $17,000 on offer now is not enough of an incentive to join, but what is an incentive is owning a home in Australia. I’m not an economist, but I think if house prices have tripled, then triple the home ownership grant. This would be a boost for the construction industry as well,” he said.

Wing Commander Joyce is not opposed to moves by the government to attract recruits from the Five Eyes nations of the UK, the US, Canada and New Zealand in order to make up the ADF shortfall of 4500 staff.

He thinks it is a good move but adds that it won’t be enough and this is why he is pressing for the ADF’s home ownership grants to be at least tripled.

“People need to be incentivised to join and that will happen if the can own a home. Five Eyes won’t be enough by itself, but it will make a Brit or a Kiwi feel more Australian if they can join our defence force and buy a home here. This goes for Australians as well; owning a home builds a strong ethos, it’s owning a piece of Australia. It makes soldiers more patriotic, more nationalistic. It builds strong families,” he said.

Wing Commander Joyce is his own one man walking, talking recruiting office, saying the ADF offers so much in the way of leadership training plus dental and medical care and the opportunity for travel.

“People hear very little about the good things about life in the ADF. They tend to hear more about the negative. The vast majority of people in the ADF are mentally healthy and have excellent careers. They have opportunities for education and development and are well looked after. I wish the ADF would put more positivity out there,” he said.

“It is a place of mateship and great networks.”

Originally published as Calls for Australian Defence Force to increase first homebuyer grants to $50,000 for recruits