The Australian Defense Force will need to almost double its annual influx of recruits over the coming decade while convincing existing personnel to serve an additional five years – an ambitious bid that will be supported by a new $600 million recruitment and retention program of dollars.

The government will publish the Defense Workforce Plan on Tuesday, which sets out the objective of achieving a permanent military workforce of 69,000 by the start of the 2030s, compared to 58,850 planned in the 2024-2025 budget.

A strengthened military will be essential to meet growing military demands, supported by a rising budget, which is expected to rise from $51.4 billion in 2023-24 to more than $100 billion in 2033-34.

This is likely to be a difficult task, given that at the end of June the ADF’s average financing capacity was 7.1 percent below its workforce growth requirement of 62,735 people. . At the same time, the ADF has only achieved 66 percent of its recruitment target.

In order to achieve this goal and “stabilize, remediate and increase” troop levels, Defense will need to increase its annual influx from 5,500 to 9,000 over the coming decade, across the force.

At the same time, it must increase the median length of service from seven years to 12 years.

Defense Minister Richard Marles will announce that to meet the challenge, the government will extend the continuation bonus until 2028.

It follows a “successful” pilot launched last July which had a take-up rate of almost 80 per cent and which saw more than 3,100 junior ADF personnel remain in service beyond their minimum service of four years.

Starting next year, the payment will be reduced to $40,000, but the program will also be expanded to include a second cohort of permanent members – those who have served between seven and nine years.

The government hopes that the opening of the program will encourage continued service and career progression in the middle ranks.

Mr Marles said that with ADF personnel making up Australia’s “greatest capability”, it was “crucial that the workforce had the people it needed to protect the strategic interests of Australia”.

“The 2024 Workforce Plan will help ensure that Defense can recruit, retain and develop the highly specialized and skilled workforce required to meet its capability needs,” he said .

The plan will also highlight the need to increase the operational reserve force by an additional 1,000 personnel by 2030.

The release of the plan comes as the government confirms it spent a record $16.7 billion on acquisitions in the last financial year; this is the first time that Defense has fully spent its acquisition budget in five years.

It also follows the government’s confirmation on Monday that it would scrap a $7 billion satellite communications program announced 18 months ago, saying it no longer met Australia’s needs.

Furthermore, Mr. Marles will also announce additional support for Ukraine on Tuesday.

Australia will provide 14 rigid-hull boats – support valued at $14 million – to strengthen Ukraine’s maritime and coastal defense.

Mr Marles said it was the “right thing to do”.

“Ukraine has demonstrated its ability to thwart Russia’s continued attacks from the Black Sea,” he said.

“We are proud to contribute to these vital maritime defenses with this new package.”

To date, Australia has provided more than $1.3 billion in military support since the Russian invasion began.