Key findings
According to the 2021 Census:
- One in twenty (5.3%) Australian households (dwellings) had at least one person who had served in the ADF (that is, at least one person who was either currently serving or had previously served in the ADF).
- There were 581,100 people who had ever served in the Australian Defence Force (ADF), 2.8% of the Australian population aged 15 years and over.
- Townsville, QLD had a higher number of current service (5,500 people) and previous service (8,700 people) members than any other region (at the SA3 level).
- 13% of previous service members needed assistance with the core activities of self-care, mobility or communication.
- Three in five (60%) previous service members had a long-term health condition.
- People who had served in the ADF were more likely to have volunteered in the previous 12 months (21%) than those who had never served in the ADF (15%).
For further information on the findings about ADF service in the 2021 Census, please click on the links below to download the following reports: