Military conscription for peacetime service was abolished in 1972. However, in times of war, the Defence Act 1903 allows the Governor-General of Australia to authorise conscription for service in the
'The present Australian national service program was enacted in late 1964, and provides for compulsory service for a two-year period, either in Australia or overseas. Young men aged twenty are selected on the basis of a ballot of birthday dates, currently to a total of 8,000 per year. They all serve in the army.
Under the Australian Constitution, former royal prerogatives—including the power to make war, deploy troops and declare peace—are part of the executive power of the Commonwealth. Executive power is recognised in section 61 of the Constitution.
Present - The U.S. currently operates under an all-volunteer armed forces policy. All male citizens between the ages of 18 and 26 are required to register for the draft and are liable for training and service until the age of 35.
Mandatory military service technically exists according to the law but is rarely (if ever) actually enforced. For example, the United States still requires all able-bodied males aged 18-25 to register with the Selective Service, meaning they could be drafted into military service if needed.
Those who can prove a religious, ethical or moral opposition to all wars may apply for a discharge or transfer to a non-combat job as a conscientious objector.
Military conscription for peacetime service was abolished in 1972. However, in times of war, the Defence Act 1903 allows the Governor-General of Australia to authorise conscription for service in the Defence Force, provided it is approved by the Parliament of Australia within 90 days.
Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service.
A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion.
Australian Defence Force personnel are deployed to operations overseas and within Australia, in order to actively protect Australia's borders and offshore maritime interests.
Australia currently recruits its defence force on a completely voluntary basis and has not conscripted soldiers since the Vietnam War.
Australia's history is different from that of many other nations in that since the first coming of the Europeans and their dispossession of the Aboriginals, Australia has not experienced a subsequent invasion; no war has since been fought on Australian soil. Yet Australians have fought in ten wars.
It required all men between the ages of 18 to 64 to register with the Selective Service. To register, men typically completed a D.S.S. Form 1 Military Draft Registration Card from the Director of Selective Service. Over 49 million draft cards were completed, including The Old Man's Draft.
Selective conscription meant that a certain number of 20-year-old Australian men would be chosen to serve in the Australian army. The process for choosing them was similar to a lottery. Numbered marbles, each representing a day of the year, were placed in a barrel.
Register for Selective Service (the draft)
The Selective Service program sets up a fair way to register eligible men for military service.
Today, all conscientious objectors are required to register with the Selective Service System. A conscientious objector is one who is opposed to serving in the armed forces and/or bearing arms on the grounds of moral or religious principles.
Obtaining conscientious objector status by professing insincere religious or ethical beliefs. Obtaining a student deferment, if the student wishes to attend or remain in school largely to avoid the draft. Claiming a medical or psychological problem, if the purported problem is feigned, overstated, or self-inflicted.
Men turning 21 in the year of the draft would be second priority, men turning 22 would be third, and so on until a man turns 26, at which time he is over the age of liability.
Principles of the laws of war
Military necessity, along with distinction, proportionality, humanity (sometimes called unnecessary suffering), and honor (sometimes called chivalry) are the five most commonly cited principles of international humanitarian law governing the legal use of force in an armed conflict.
Winning without fighting, Sun Tzu argued, is the best outcome of any war. If the surrender comes before a battle is fought, all the better.
Members or Officers of State or Commonwealth Governments; Judges and magistrates; Ministers of religion or those studying to join a religious order or devoted to full-time duties; Conscientious objectors.
Initially, Australian men volunteered to enlist for different reasons, because they: needed regular pay. sought combat or adventure. wanted to escape from normal life.
Defence's mission and purpose is to defend Australia and its national interests in order to advance Australia's security and prosperity.