CANBERRA (Reuters) – Australia’s military is considering scrapping its tough anti-drugs policy in order to attract more recruits to the armed forces.
Defense Minister Brendan Nelson said he was considering scrapping the rule, saying a person’s character and ability should be the main tests for new defense recruits.
Under current rules, a person is automatically rejected as a recruit if they admit to having taken illegal drugs. Nelson said that meant someone who lied about drug use could be accepted, while an honest person would be rejected.
“I can say no to that (question) myself, but the reality is about 40-45 percent of the adult population have (tried drugs),” Nelson told a defense conference on Tuesday.
In his first major speech since he became defense minister in January, Nelson said he had taken responsibility for recruitment as Australia’s defense forces struggle to meet recruiting targets in Australia’s tight labor market.
In December, the government announced plans to expand the size of the army by about 1,500 over 10 years, from its current 42,000 soldiers, including 16,800 reservists.
But with Australia’s unemployment rate at near 30-year lows, the defense forces regularly fail to meet recruiting targets, particularly in some specialist areas.
Nelson, who was education minister before taking on defense, blamed school teachers for a culture where school leavers did not see the value of a defense career.
“Unfortunately there is a minority of those in the classroom teaching children that bring pejorative views to the task, not just in relation to defense but in relation to non-university based careers,” he said.
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