by South Australian government agency Veterans SA found that some veterans themselves find it difficult to identify with the term , and identify more easily with being asked “ have you ever served in the Australian Defence Force ?” rather than “ are you a veteran ”?
In 2021 , for the first time , the Australian Bureau of Statistics ( ABS ) Census asked a question about military service . This has enabled a much deeper understanding about the number of veterans in the community . There are three specific categories of veterans , namely those :
• currently serving in the regular service only
• currently serving in the reserve service only
• previously served ( and not currently serving ).
The Census showed that nationally there were 581,100 people who indicated that they had ever served in the ADF ( current or former serving ), representing 2.8 % of the Australian population aged 15 years and over . This number is almost certainly an undercount as it based on selfidentification . In South Australia alone ,
4.8 % of the total population aged 15 and over answered “ prefer not to say ” to the question .
The Census data can be further broken down by age group , Local Government Area ( LGA ), labour force status , educational attainment , and many other variables to provide a comprehensive picture of this cohort . The “ veteran community ”, including partners and immediate family , is estimated to exceed more than 1 million people nationally .
In the South Australian context , the Census identified that 47,852 people residing in South Australia were currently serving or had previously served in the ADF . A visual representation of the South Australian veteran population is provided in Figure 1 .
As the snapshot shows , 50 % of people who have ever served in the ADF and living in South Australia are of working age , and those who have previously served are employed across almost 700 different occupations . All but one LGA in South Australia has veterans living within its population , and it is anticipated that this would be a similar situation across the nation .
A detailed analysis of the characteristics of the veteran population can be extracted from the 2021 ABS Census data for any LGA in Australia , be it Bunbury in Western Australia ( 883 people who have ever served ), Copper Coast in South Australia ( 555 people ) or Mildura in Victoria ( 1,133 people ).
TRANSITIONING ADF MEMBERS As previously stated , each year around 6,000 - 7,000 people transition out of permanent service within the ADF ( i . e ., excluding reservists ). The number of people transitioning out of the military is expected to rise significantly in coming years as the ADF seeks to grow its workforce ( more entrants equal more subsequent exits ).
People who transition out of the military are generally young ( the average length of time people serve in the ADF is less than eight years ), highly skilled ( there are hundreds of Learning Management Packages in the military ) and leave the ADF voluntarily ( non-medical separations account for around 75 % of all separations ).
FIGURE 1 : A DEMOGRAPHIC SNAPSHOT OF THE VETERAN POPULATION IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA
VOL 17 NO 1 2024 10 www . edaustralia . com . au