Oliver’s struggle: a case study in the frustration of trying to join the ADF

If you’re a qualified individual looking to join the Australian Army, prepare for a world of frustration over the next 12 to 18 months. While thorough vetting is essential, the inefficiency of the Australian Defence Force’s recruitment process is inexcusable.

Communication between recruits and the ADF is disorganised and inefficient. The system seems designed to test patience rather than welcome recruits.

What follows is a case study. It’s the miserable experience of 22-year-old Oliver from Sydney, an entirely suitable recruit who struggled for 12 months to be recruited—by an organisation that says it can’t get enough people. (‘Oliver’ is not his real name.)

Oliver’s application process was so riddled with complications that he lost count. A particular issue was constant turnover of recruiters. Oliver went through four different recruiters in 12 months.

Twice, his file was reassigned without any notice, and on two other occasions, he had to personally track down his new recruiter’s details and make the first contact. He discovered that his recruiter was no longer handling his case only when his emails and calls began to go unanswered. Each time, he had to call the general recruiting phone line just to get an update on his application and find out who his new case manager was.

On top of that, poor record-keeping led to lost documents, adding unnecessary delays. But the most frustrating part was the medical clearance process, which became an administrative nightmare.

‘Every time I followed up [on the medical clearance], I’d find out they had either lost my documents again or hadn’t even checked them since last uploading them,’ Oliver says. ‘It felt like I was stuck in an endless loop of submitting paperwork with no progress.’

Recruiter turnover meant that each of Oliver’s follow-ups were with a new person with no understanding of his case, causing misunderstandings surrounding his medical history. Oliver had undergone leg surgery in the past, so he understood that some delay arising from it was inevitable. However, he didn’t expect simple administrative tasks to be mishandled so often.

For instance, he was required to complete a second pre-entry fitness assessment two weeks before his enlistment. When he arrived at the test location, he discovered he wasn’t on the list. His recruiter had forgotten to book him in, despite assuring him otherwise. Fortunately, the assessment staff, whom he happened to know, allowed him to take the test and promptly submitted his scores. Without their help, his enlistment date would have been delayed yet again.

After everything he had been through, it was no surprise that his medical approval took six months: if they couldn’t even book a basic fitness test, how could he trust them to handle something as important as his medical history?

Prolonged uncertainty keeps recruits in limbo, disrupting their personal lives. Oliver, for instance, chose not to renew his residential lease for another year, because thought he might soon need to leave town for a life in the army. Instead, he moved frequently and cycled through jobs, always on edge: at any moment, he could be called and told to ship out. Had he known the process would drag on, or had he received a firm departure date, he could have signed the lease and avoided a year of instability.

His impression was that the ADF was indifferent to the hardship its process takes on applicants. This leaves a negative impression on recruits, already part of a generation less inclined to serve than their forebears were and sends a clear message that their commitment is met with bureaucracy rather than support.

Oliver, a dual citizen of Australia and the United States, became so frustrated that he nearly enlisted in the US military instead. In the US Army, recruits can receive up to US$50,000 (nearly AU$80,000) in bonuses, including a US$15,000 (AU$24,000) Quick Ship Bonus for those who start basic training within 30 days.

In contrast, the average enlistment process in Australia takes about 300 days—but it doesn’t have to. If Australia is serious about addressing its recruitment crisis, the first step is fixing a system that almost seems designed to push recruits away.

Oliver was finally accepted September 2024. He’s now in infantry.

If not for a determination to serve, which he had held since the age of 15, he likely wouldn’t have made it through the process. This begs the question: how many potential recruits, uncertain about enlisting, abandon their applications in frustration? Stories like Oliver’s seem countless.

The ADF’s failure to efficiently vet qualified recruits isn’t just a bureaucratic hiccup; it’s a fundamental flaw costing valuable soldiers. Fixing this requires prioritising high-performing applicants like Oliver, reducing bureaucratic hurdles and improving recruitment capacity. If Australia wants a strong, capable military force, it needs to start by proving to recruits that their time, dedication and service are valued—not wasted.