New ADF recruitment firm falls 30 per cent short of target

A recruiter hired to fix a staffing crisis within the Australian ­Defence Force is almost 30 per cent behind target.

Adecco is on track to deliver 7461 Australian ­Defence Force recruits, instead of 10,512.

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A recruiter hired to fix a staffing crisis within the Australian ­Defence Force is almost 30 per cent behind target and has had its performance period extended by six months.

Recruiting firm Adecco was meant to hire 10,512 recruits for the ADF and be able to take a prospective recruit from application to enlistment in 100 days.

But Senate estimates revealed Adecco believed it could deliver only 7461 recruits – and was ­expected to process recruits in 150 days ­instead of 100.

The Coalition criticised the ­Albanese government for “continuing to fail at their own target of recruiting ADF candidates within 100 days”. The government in 2022 announced it would change the recruitment firm for the ADF from ManpowerGroup to Adecco.

The ADF’s permanent headcount hit a peak at 59,619 in 2021, but this has slipped every year down to 57,226 in 2024. The government’s 2024 ­Defence Workforce Plan set a “realistic” target of 69,000 permanent ADF personnel by the early 2030s.

As a share of the total Australian workforce, the ADF made up 0.52 per cent in 2001 but this had fallen to 0.38 per cent in 2024.

The Defence Department revealed Adecco had a target of 10,512 recruits to the ADF – about double the number in the 2023-24 financial year – but the recruiter forecasted it would deliver only 71 per cent of the target.

“Adecco is expected to provide a recruiting system, to a specified schedule, that delivers 100 per cent of targets in 100 days,” the ­department said in response to a question on notice from Senate estimates.

However, the actual expectation by December 2024 was that this would be done in 150 days, the department said.

“Defence has extended the performance implementation ­period by six months to allow Adecco to address issues that neither party anticipated,” its response read.

“The key challenge includes shortfalls in psychologists and medical professionals to assess candidates.

“These collective issues have resulted in candidate throughput that is less than what is necessary to achieve the ADF’s desired targets. Adecco understands the ­imperative to resolve these issues and has made adjustments to ­address known issues, including a recruiting operations restructure and increase of full-time equivalent, and working with the health services subcontractor to increase candidate throughput.”

Opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie criticised the Albanese government over the revelations and accused it of having “no urgency around recruiting Defence personnel”.

“Instead of taking action, the Albanese government has ­extended Adecco’s performance implementation period,” he said.

Referring to Chinese warships conducting live-fire exercises in the Tasman Strait, he added: “The events of the past week should serve as a reminder as to why we need a strong, capable ADF to ­respond to the challenges we face.

“But under Labor, recruitment is down, morale is down, and our ADF is worse off as a result of weak leadership.”

When contacted for a response, Defence Minister Richard Marles said the Albanese government had been “taking urgent action to ensure Defence has the workforce needed to keep Australians safe”.

“Under our government, the ADF is growing, separation rates are declining, and we have seen the highest application rates in over 20 years,” he said.

“Compare that to what we saw when the Liberals were in government – an ADF personnel crisis. They knew about declining recruitment and retention, and did nothing.

“The Liberal Party put out press releases promising to grow Defence’s workforce to 18,500 yet did nothing to fully fund it. In their final years in government, when Peter Dutton was the defence minister, the size of the ADF was in decline, dropping by around 1,400.”

He accused the Coalition of having “no plan to fix the crisis”.

“Where is Andrew Hastie’s ‘workforce plan’ that was promised almost a year ago?” He asked.

“The Albanese government has begun to turn the crisis around, with a suite of measures to address recruitment and retention, including a Workforce Plan released last year.

“We recognise the value of our Defence workforce. We are investing in our workforce. And we are ensuring that Defence has the resources, people and capabilities to keep Australians safe.”