Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Lambie, in the time while I was seeking to answer your first question, I was provided with a little more information, and I might provide you with that. As part of this year's budget, the government is announcing funding of an ADF continuation bonus. The advice is that this is critical to influencing career decisions when the member is approaching their first opportunity to make a decision to stay in or leave the Australian Defence Force. We obviously have been, as I said, considering a number of the recommendations in the DSR. There were four recommendations relating to recruitment and retention, and the government is developing options to respond to each of those four recommendations. The bonus that we are discussing is the immediate response to the DSR in order to continue to invest in the growth and retention of a highly skilled Defence workforce. (Time expired)