Defence has a numerical problem with its best asset, its people.
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"Acute" is how the landmark Defence Strategic Review described its workforce challenges. "Large" is how the Defence Force's inaugural Chief of Personnel Lieutenant General Natasha Fox puts the job ahead of her as she breaks down entrenched silos in an organisation more known for conformity.
Defence is shifting gears, and - in an interview with The Canberra Times - Australia's first female three-star officer has revealed it is embracing the review's request that it cast aside usual practice and be "bold and innovative" when it comes to recruitment and retention.
It is also gearing up to innovate when it comes to reshaping the reserves to allow for an expansion base in times of crisis.
"We might not be bold in its true sense of an entrepreneurial approach, but we are making changes in order to achieve what the government wants us now," she said.
"Those changes, we make them, and it takes a little bit of time to get that momentum, but then we keep going hard.
"People might go 'You take too long', and we're trying to go faster, and that's part of that boldness.
"We are going faster because the Defence Strategic Review has said 'Make this happen'."
As Defence gears up for a potential severe bushfire season later this year, Lieutenant General Fox points to the "nobility and the dignity" of helping the community in times of fire and flood as a "worst-case organisation".
"The purpose of why you were there is noble. You're there for the Australian people. You're there to serve what the government wants us to do," she said.
"I think in the fires and floods the community started to see us.
"And, for my children - if I would want them to join because I know that they would grow personally and professionally."
But something has to shift. And soon.
The Defence Strategic Review asks that recruitment targets are improved by next year and recruitment times are reduced to days not months.
Lieutenant General Fox "absolutely" feels the pressure. There are more than 24,000 applications in the pipeline.
"So industry can hire people in two days. We need to get that best practice moving," she said.
"Industry doesn't necessarily have those wellbeing checks that we have in place. So, it's how do we do that faster, but making sure those safety mechanisms are in place. So we are absolutely bringing down the time taken to recruit to improve those numbers."
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Entry requirements are being changed first with the Army and next with the Navy, particularly as defence competes for cyber experts.
"We're adjusting our physical employment standards for entry recognising that perhaps not everyone is going to infantry, as an Army example, and that as a logistician you still have to be fit but you actually don't have to carry a huge pack like our infantry colleagues do," she said.
"We don't want to do harm to people so making sure that they're able to undertake those roles, but we're taking an occupational view of what roles people will do.
"And that might mean we want the fantastic cyber operators. So we're looking at them very differently now and it's about the skills that we want."
What continues are the behavioural requirements and psychological wellbeing checks to ensure a "do no harm" ethos.
The Lieutenant General said the entire value proposition of Defence is being modernised. She points to the "gold coming into the Australian Defence Force". That's the 20 per cent, or one in five, of the permanent force of the ADF being female and the 25 per cent who come from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
The reserves are up for review, and it needs to happen by 2025. There are around 28,000 reservists and another 10,000 that are not providing service.
With increased competition and in some cases second careers, she said the expectations about training and commitment have to be pragmatic.
Lieutenant General Fox reports directly to Defence Force chief General Angus Campbell to centralise personnel management in the five domains of land, sea, air, space and cyber.
So she oversees a military personnel organisation which takes in defence families, the Australian Defence College, the sexual misconduct prevention response office, the financial services support centre, and career management.
The military "life cycle" starts with recruiting, retention, easing personnel out with career assistance and has a responsibility with veteran support.
Career coaches are available, and Lieutenant General Fox guarantees action is "absolutely taken" about known misconduct.
"In fact, some of my friends have had things happen to them. And so change and leading through change and making it better is actually really personal for me," she said.
"So I can't guarantee that things won't happen. But what I can guarantee is that if we know about it, action is absolutely taken about it."
She insists Defence is more transparent than what it is known for.
"Our behaviours are right. You might not see it from the outside, but absolutely we focus on it," the Lieutenant General said.
"And we're invested in the [veterans] royal commission because it's going to make recommendations that will make us a better place. So that is, again, transparency."
It just happens that the greatest peacetime recruitment drive, and the government's biggest advertising spend, is happening during a competitive labour market.
"So we have been given authority to grow by 18,500 people by 2040. That in itself is historic," she said. "That is APS and ADF."
"What is different right at this point in time .. we've got really low unemployment. So that's a great news story for Australia. Not a great news story for Defence.
"That means Defence has to work harder and evolve and make sure our value proposition is modernised.
"And so that's what I will be doing and working in partnership with the deputy secretary to do for our people."