As of 31 December 2019, there were around 373,500 Australians who had served at least one day in the ADF between 1 January 1985 and 31 December 2019. Of these, just over 358,000 were still alive of which 59,000 were permanent, 38,700 reserve and nearly 261,000 ex-serving.
There were more males than females, with males accounting for 84% (or 300,000) of all living ADF members and 16% were female (or 58,600). Within the permanent population, almost 1 in 5 members were female (19%).
Table 1: ADF living members by service status groups, as of 31 December 2019
|
Service status
groups
|
Males
(Number)
|
Males
(Per cent)
|
Females
(Number)
|
Females
(Per cent)
|
Persons(a)
(Number)
|
Persons
(Per cent)
|
|
Permanent
|
47,924
|
81.2
|
11,112
|
18.8
|
59,045
|
100.0
|
|
Reserve
|
32,353
|
83.7
|
6,306
|
16.3
|
38,660
|
100.0
|
|
Ex-serving
|
219,411
|
84.2
|
41,213
|
15.8
|
260,624
|
100.0
|
|
Total in all service
status groups
|
299,688
|
83.6
|
58,631
|
16.4
|
358,329
|
100.0
|
(a) The number of persons who were permanent or reserve include persons who have identified as intersex.
Sources: AIHW analysis of linked Defence Historical Personnel data–PMKeyS–NDI data 1985–2019; Defence population snapshots, 2002–2019.