Labor says military conscription is not being reintroduced

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese isn’t trying to pass a bill to conscript Australians for war, despite claims being shared widely on social media.

“Albanese now trying to pass a bill to conscript Australia’s for war 18 to 60 years old [sic],” a caption on a 9 March Facebook post reads.

Another post said: “Australian government signed us up for forced conscription last week. Hope you all ready for WAR !!!”

The Albanese government has not taken these steps and currently has no policy to reintroduce mandatory military service.

Claim misinterprets long-standing legislation

The claim misinterprets long-standing defence legislation, which permits conscription after a proclamation passes both houses of parliament.

The viral posts often contain screenshots of the Defence Act, a piece of legislation first passed in 1903 to establish Australia’s navy and army, and which now governs how the entire defence force operates.

In 1911 universal service — compulsory naval or military training for all men between the ages of 12 and 26 — passed into law, but the scheme was repealed in 1929.

Compulsory military service within Australia and its region came into effect after the outbreak of World War Two, and the last national service was reintroduced in 1964 amid conflicts in Southeast Asia, with powers enabling the government to send Australians to fight overseas introduced in 1965.

The Whitlam government abolished that scheme in 1972.

Section 59 of the Defence Act outlines who is liable to serve in the defence force during times of war: all people aged between 18 and 60 years old who have lived in Australia for more than six months.

Specific exemptions for health, professional, religious or conscientious reasons are outlined in Section 61A.

However, the act says that before people can be called to serve, the governor-general must make a proclamation, which needs to be approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Some Facebook posts have pointed to a recent change to the legislation as evidence of conscription being reintroduced in early 2025.

“Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese has just amended the Conscription Act dated 21 February 2025 to include Australians up to 60 years of age to go off and fight in his globalist war. Here he is hoping and wishing for World War 3,” a caption of one post said.

While the act was updated in February, it was related to an updated acronym and had nothing to do with military service.

Defence Act still allows for conscription

Tristan Moss, a senior lecturer in history at the University of NSW, said the Defence Act still permits conscription.

He noted the findings of a 2023 joint parliamentary inquiry into international armed conflict decision-making, which confirmed that the governor-general may call upon people who meet eligibility requirements to serve during times of war.

However, Moss said he was not aware of any government policy to introduce conscription.

“There would be some serious political hurdles to overcome, in that it would likely be deeply unpopular,” he said.

The Department of Defence confirmed there were no plans to introduce a national service conscription scheme.