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Australian Defence Force Academy

Military academy in Canberra tertiary education provided by UNSW

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Tertiary education is provided by the University of New South Wales' Canberra campus, known as UNSW Canberra at ADFA, which is the awarding body for ADFA qualifications. Apart from educating future leaders of the Australian Defence Force, UNSW Canberra also provides postgraduate programs and short courses both to Department of Defence personnel and the general public.

The stated purpose of ADFA is "to serve Australia by providing the Australian Defence Force (ADF) with tertiary graduates who have the attributes, intellect and skills required of an officer".

ADFA is located in the suburb of Campbell, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, near the Australian Government district of Russell. It is situated next to Mount Pleasant, which gives some parts of ADFA a view over the rest of Canberra. ADFA is also adjacent to the Australian Army military academy, the Royal Military College, Duntroon.

Junior officers who attend the Australian Defence Force Academy hold the rank of Midshipman (MIDN) in the Royal Australian Navy, Officer Cadet (OCDT) in the Australian Army or Officer Cadet (OFFCDT) in the Royal Australian Air Force.

History

Establishment

After World War II, each of the three Armed Services adopted, as policy, that the educational standards should be raised for officers in training.

In 1967, an agreement was reached between the Department of Defence and the University of New South Wales, under which they would co-operate to develop the Royal Military College ('RMC' or 'Duntroon') into a degree-level institution. To that end, the university established the Faculty of Military Studies at RMC to conduct courses leading to the award of the university's degrees in arts, science and engineering.

Also in 1967, the University of New South Wales entered into an association with the RAN College enabling it to present approved courses. Subsequently, first year courses for certain University programs in arts, science and engineering were introduced. Successful cadets were also sponsored by the Navy to then complete bachelor's degrees on the university's main campus.

Concurrent with the developments at the RAN College and RMC, from 1967 to 1970, Sir Leslie H. Martin chaired the Commonwealth Government's Tertiary Education (Services' Cadet Colleges) Committee into the feasibility of setting up a college for the joint education of officer cadets of the three Armed Services.

Investigations on a wider scale followed, with the result that in 1974 the Whitlam Labor Government announced its intention to establish a single tertiary institution for the Defence Force. In 1977, the Commonwealth Government formally established the Australian Defence Force Academy as a Joint Service Unit under Section 32c of the Defence Act 1903. The Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Sir Neville McNamara, simultaneously announced the appointment of Rear Admiral Peter Sinclair, Royal Australian Navy as first Commandant of Academy. Construction did not begin on the site until 1981. In February 1984, the University of New South Wales announced the appointment of Professor Geoff Wilson as Rector of the University College. In September 1985 an Interim Academy Council ceased its functions and the Australian Defence Force Academy Council held its inaugural meeting, under the Chairmanship of Sir Edward Woodward.

In 1986, ADFA opened and began providing military and tertiary academic education for midshipmen and officer cadets. In late 2003, the Department of Defence entered into another agreement with the University of New South Wales, also providing for the operation of University College at ADFA.

In 2015, a $98 million redevelopment was completed.

Criticism, review and reform of ADFA

A parliamentary inquiry conducted by the Joint Standing Committee on Public Works in 1979 opposed the creation of the planned Defence Force Academy and suggested that each individual service maintain oversight of academic training of its officers. The committee's chair Mel Bungey stated the "there was no clear evidence [...] that the training of cadets of all Services in a common establishment would of itself provide any improvement in the quality of officers".

Over its history ADFA has been criticised for its cost of operation and for instances of cadet misbehaviour (including bastardisation). In 1998, the Director of the Defence Equity Organisation, Bronwen Grey, led a review into ADFA's policies and practices to deal with sexual harassment and sexual offences. The Grey Review led to fundamental structural and cultural changes at ADFA, including abolition of a cadet rank hierarchy and equity and diversity training for cadets and staff. Notwithstanding these improvements, the national publicity associated with the review caused considerable damage to the academy's reputation.

In July 2006, LCDR Robyn Fahy – the first woman to graduate from ADFA and the dux of her year – was awarded an undisclosed amount in compensation for abuses suffered during her service in the ADF, including instances of physical and verbal abuse suffered at ADFA. ADFA attracted further criticism from the Canberra gay and lesbian community after its then commandant issued an order preventing Academy personnel from frequenting the Cube nightclub, a gay and lesbian venue. The order was purportedly in response to instances of violence at the club, including one in which a patron was stabbed; the ban has since been lifted.

In April 2011, it was alleged a male cadet used Skype to stream video of consensual sex with a female cadet to several other cadets at ADFA. The allegation achieved national media attention, and was subject to civil proceedings in the ACT courts. Aside from this court action, the incident triggered several other inquiries, investigations and reviews into ADFA. These included an inquiry led by Mr Andrew Kirkham QC into ADFA's management of the incident, and a 2011 review led by Elizabeth Broderick, national Sex Discrimination Commissioner, into the treatment of women at ADFA. The Broderick Review found that ADFA was a greatly improved institution since the 1990s, and that the extreme cultural concerns identified by Bronwen Grey in 1998 were no longer apparent. Notwithstanding this general finding, the review found there were still structural and cultural deficiencies at ADFA which contributed to widespread, low-level sexual harassment. This review led to a second tranche of major reform at ADFA, which is still underway.

In November 2014, the Australian Government's Defence Abuse Response Taskforce recommended that a royal commission be conducted to consider all allegations of abuse at ADFA since its establishment in 1986.

Open day

ADFA has a yearly open day with displays of military hardware, demonstrations and flypasts. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020 the physical open day was replaced by an on-line event. The 2026 open day is scheduled for Saturday 15 August.

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