The National Service scheme
was introduced by the Menzies Government in November 1964 and operated until
December 1972, when the newly elected Whitlam Labor
Government suspended it. The scheme was based on a birthday ballot of
twenty-year-old men who had registered their names with the Department of
Labour and National Service (DENS). If balloted in, these men were called up to
perform two years' continuous full-time service in the Regular Army Supplement,
followed by three years' part-time service in the Regular Army Reserve.
National servicemen on full-time duty were liable for what was called 'special
overseas service', which included combat duties in
The role of the DENS in
operating the scheme was to handle all matters dealing with call-up of national
servicemen from the time of registration to the time service commenced in the
Regular Army Supplement. The department administered all aspects involving
registration, selection and examinations and answered questions concerning
deferment or exemption from call-up. The day-to-day operation of the scheme was
largely handled by the department's regional offices in the capital cities and,
in country areas, by offices of the Commonwealth Employment Service.
Registration
The national service scheme
required most men who turned twenty years of age and who were 'ordinarily
resident' in
The registration process involved
filling in a form at a local national service registration office. There were
two registration periods each year, each lasting a fortnight and widely
publicized. The first, in January, was for men who turned twenty in the first
half of the year. The second, in July, was for men turning twenty in the second
half. Failure to register was an offence. Those who did not register without
reasonable explanation were automatically balloted in and considered for
call-up. They were also liable to be fined. Although men were legally required
to register within their registration period, in practice registration was
accepted without penalty up to the date of the ballot.
Young men who had reached the
age of eighteen years and nine months, and men aged twenty who had been granted
indefinite deferment or exemption, could volunteer for national service.
Volunteers could also request to serve in limited duties of a non-combatant
nature.
The ballot
As the number of
twenty-year-old men was greater than the number needed for the annual intakes,
a ballot was held about four to six weeks after the close of each registration
period to select those to be considered for callup.
Selection for military service by ballot had been introduced with the approval
of Cabinet in 1957 for an earlier national service scheme, and the selection
procedures adopted then were unchanged. Numbered marbles, each representing two
birthdates, were placed in a barrel. A predetermined number of marbles were
drawn randomly by hand, one at a time. One hundred and eighty-one marbles were
placed in the first ballot barrel, and 184 in the others. The number drawn
depended on statistical calculations by the DLNS not only of the final number
of national servicemen needed for military service, but also of how many
registrants were expected to apply for exemption or were already exempt from
service, and of how many were entitled to indefinite or temporary deferment.
The calculation also made allowances for those classified as medically unfit.
Once the ballot was completed, the results were sent to
The Government went to great
lengths to ensure that the ballot was conducted in a fair, equal and random
manner. The drawing of the ballot was conducted as a ceremony under the
supervision of a representative of the Government and the marbles were drawn by
a 'distinguished citizen' not associated with the administration of the scheme.
The procedure was supervised by senior officers of the army and the DLNS, and
the marbles drawn were checked and crosschecked in the DLNS central office. The
ceremony, up to the drawing of the first marble, was open to representatives of
the press, radio and television, but the drawing of marbles was conducted in secret.
Also secret for the first
eleven of the sixteen ballots were the birthdates that the drawn marbles
represented, for the Government wished to make it impossible both for the
public to deduce the results of the ballots and for men whose national service
obligation had been indefinitely deferred to deduce whether deferral had been
granted as a result of the ballot or on other grounds discussed below. The
Government had three main reasons for such secrecy. First, it believed that
publishing the ballot results would encourage men to register only after their
ballot, having first waited to see which birthdays were drawn. This could
assist those who desired to escape national service and add to the DLNS
administrative workload. Second, the Government was concerned that some members
of the public might study the mathematical probability of the same numbers
falling in successive ballots. The Government was convinced that such study
could not lead to successful evasion, but it might prompt some registrants to
give false birthdates and, again, increase the administrative workload
substantially. Third, as not all those balloted in were called up, the
Government did not want to be put in the position of explaining why some men
balloted in were not called up. The DLNS believed that this could lead to
delicate situations and a breach of confidentiality between the department and
registrants, especially those with mental or physical illness or defects, or
those considered a security risk. Growing criticism and suspicion of the
secrecy of the ballot led to increasing pressure on the Government to publish
the birthdates. In 1970 the DLNS examined the ballot arrangements and on 12
June that year the Minister for Labour and National Service, Billy Snedden, announced that the ballot dates would be published
from September
Deferments and exemptions
Indefinite deferments were
granted to registrants who married before callup; to
those with a serious criminal record or who posed a security risk; and to those
who had joined the part-time Citizen Military Forces, Citizen Naval Force or
Citizen Air Force.
Two provisions enabled youths
to enlist in the Citizen Forces rather than undertake national service. They
could enlist before their twentieth birthday and give at least one year's effective
service, and were required to continue to give a further five years' service.
Alternatively, they could join the Citizen Forces before the ballot for their
age group and, provided they were accepted for service in the Citizen Forces,
were obliged to serve for six years. The Government soon became aware of a
loophole in these provisions. If balloted out, youths were
able to resign from the Citizen Forces immediately afterwards. The
Government soon closed the loophole and from
Although genuine service in the
Citizen Military Forces was an alternative to national service, part-time
military units were not always located at a convenient distance from farming areas, and naval and air force units were generally based in
the capital cities. After eighteen months of lobbying from members of the rural
community and members of the Country Party, Cabinet decided on
Temporary deferments were
available to men on grounds of exceptional hardship or compassion, and to
students, apprentices and trainees at universities, teachers' colleges and
technical colleges to avoid interrupting training for primary qualifications or
for apprenticeship. Part-time students whose study was connected to their
career or employment were also eligible. Temporary deferment on grounds of
exceptional hardship was mostly claimed by youths working on family farms. If
granted, temporary deferment applied for no more than a year at a time, though
registrants could apply for further deferments, and liability for call-up
continued until the age of 26 or, for those undertaking university courses
requiring lengthy training, until 30. Each application was considered on its
merits, and granted to students and apprentices subject to satisfactory
progress in their course or apprenticeship. Graduate students liable for
national service could not proceed to a further degree without reapplying for
temporary deferment. Such deferments were determined case by case. In a press
release in September 1965 the Minister for Labour and National Service, William
McMahon, stated that: 'Students can not expect to have their deferment extended
if they fail to be diligent in their studies'.2 In June 1968 the National
Service Act was amended so that national servicemen could be granted leave
without pay for twelve months if national service would impose exceptional
hardship. If such hardship had existed for some time and was expected to
continue to exist, national servicemen could be granted indefinite deferment by
a magistrate's court.
In October 1965 the DENS
considered whether national service for brothers of national servicemen, for
only sons, or for twins and triplets constituted hardship. Although it was
recognised that the call-up of an only son or more than one son in a
family could result in hardship, no man was exempted from service obligations
on the grounds of family circumstances. The justification for this was that
liability for service rested on the individual, not the family. In March 1967
the Minister for the Army, Malcolm Fraser, was asked about his department's
attitude towards the call-up of a youth whose brother had been killed or
seriously injured. Fraser stated that in such cases, his department would see
'that the family would not experience an undue share of the burden in that
conflict', but no guarantee was given. In May the following year, the issue was
brought before Cabinet, where it was deemed impractical to amend existing
arrangements.
Claims for exemption from
national service were considered only after the ballot had been drawn. Three
grounds were recognised: physical or mental disability, occupation and
conscience. Men with physical and mental disabilities were exempt if those
disabilities were proscribed by legislation. The only men automatically exempted
on occupational grounds were theological students, ministers of religion and
members of religious orders. Students at a theological college were exempt from
national service as long as their employment on which the exemption was based
continued until they reached the age of 26. Several objections to this
exemption were voiced. One was that those seeking a religious occupation were
granted special privileges given to no one else. Another objection, made by
some theological students themselves, was that automatic exemption did not
allow them to protest against national service by not cooperating with the
system. Various lobby groups, including the National Union of Australian
University Students, asked the Government to make practitioners of certain other
professions also automatically exempt from national service. The Government
rejected the proposal, wishing to give the Army men with a variety of skills
and to share the burden of military service as equally as possible. Claims for
exemption based on occupation and disability were considered by registrars in
the DLNS; rejected claimants could take the matter before a court.
Section 29A of the National
Service Act provided that a person whose conscientious beliefs did not allow
him to engage in any form of military service could be exempted, provided he
sincerely held those beliefs. Those objecting to national service, or merely to
combatant duties while performing it, had to prove their beliefs to a court at
their own expense. They were also obliged to register for national service and,
after receiving a certificate of registration, to then apply for exemption to a
Applications that survived
this filtering process were decided in State lower courts, where an applicant
had to demonstrate before a magistrate that he had formed his beliefs from
religious or moral premises, or that he genuinely adhered to the beliefs of a
religious group that opposed military service. However, a man's beliefs did not
have to be of a religious nature or part of the doctrines of a religion. In
court the Minister for Labour and National Service was represented by a
barrister, solicitor or officer of the DLNS. The magistrate was obliged to
consider the extent to which the applicant's evidence was true, how long he had
held his beliefs, how he had formed them, and to what extent he upheld them. It
was up to the magistrate to decide whether the registrant was to undertake any
military service and, if so, what form of military service. If a magistrate
decided against an applicant, the latter was entitled to appeal to a court of
review: a District, County or Supreme Court, depending on the State. If
dissatisfied after a decision on appeal, the applicant could take his case to
the full bench of the State Supreme Court. The final step was to take the case
to the High Court of Australia. National service registrants who had applied
and failed in courts on the grounds of conscientious objection and who
subsequently failed to report for service were prosecuted.
State courts were independent
of the administration of national service, and each had its own arrangements
for hearing conscientious objection cases and applications for deferment of
national service on grounds of exceptional hardship, and for trying acts of
non-compliance with the National Service Act. In metropolitan
After amendments to the
National Service Act in June 1968, men who had already commenced national
service were also entitled to apply for exemption on the grounds of conscience.
The process was the same for those who registered and applied for total or
partial exemption. After filing for conscientious objector status, the serving
soldier was granted leave without pay until his application was heard.
On several occasions Cabinet
and Parliament discussed whether the national service scheme should allow some
form of civilian service for those with conscientious objections to military
activity. In December 1967 the Minister for Labour and National Service, Leslie
Bury, brought before Cabinet draft amendments to the Act which proposed such
service. Bury's amendments were rejected because of the small number of people
eligible, the possibility of increased pressure on the Government to extend the
civilian alternative to those who opposed military service on non-religious
grounds, and doubts whether the Constitution permitted the idea. Another
argument was that a civilian alternative would erode the primary object of the
scheme and be seen as favourable treatment for those who did not wish to
undertake military service. In 1968 the Cabinet acknowledged that the pressure
for dealing with conscientious objectors could increase.3 Concerned that
enforcement of compliance with national service was proving counterproductive,
Cabinet again discussed the introduction of a civilian alternative in February
1970. It estimated that by the end of the year there could be as many as 50 men
serving two-year gaol sentences in prison, and even more in following years,
and argued that the existence of a civilian alternative would undermine any
popular support for the arguments and actions of evaders.4 On 27 May 1970, less
than three weeks after the first Moratorium campaign ended, Cabinet decided
that men convicted of refusing to undertake military service should have the
option of carrying out road-building and development projects in the outback.'
Men who failed to accept call-up would continue to be prosecuted, but on
conviction would be given the opportunity to undertake civilian work rather
than having to undergo two years' imprisonment. On 11 June Cabinet rescinded
the decision, noting that although it was both 'equitable and practicable', it
was 'unworkable'. On the same day, Cabinet discussed whether conscientious
objection to a particular war should be respected, but decided against it.
Medical, fitness, educational
and security examinations
The standards of fitness
required for national service in the Regular Army Supplement were the same as
those for voluntary service in the Regular Army. Prospective national
servicemen underwent three examinations. To avoid loss of working time, most
were held on weekday evenings or on Saturdays. Men balloted in who failed to
report for a medical examination or deceived or obstructed a Medical Board were
fined $100.
The first examination was
conducted by one of the medical boards, usually consisting of two casually employed
civilian doctors, that were convened at various
centres around
The second examination was an
interview, in which men were asked details of their education and employment
history so the Army could use what occupational skills they possessed. Men who
had not obtained the Intermediate Certificate at school were required to sit an
aptitude test conducted by a psychologist. The third examination was a security
and character check, carried out with the assistance of the Attorney-General's
Department, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, and the
Commonwealth Police, and was based on documents obtained without the subject's
knowledge. Those who had been convicted of minor offences were usually passed.
Those considered a security risk or who held a criminal record for a character
which would make them unsuitable soldiers' received indefinite deferrals.
Probation officers were involved in assessing whether 'borderline' cases such
as parolees should be called up.
Those who did not request deferment
and who passed the medical, security and criminal checks were then called up
for national service. A formal notice instructed them to report for Army
service at a specific time and place. The notice was normally sent a month
before the date to report. On reporting, men underwent a further medical
examination, this time conducted by Army doctors.
Conditions and obligations of
service
Men who passed the final
medical examination served for two years fulltime in the Regular Army
Supplement and a further three years part-time in the Regular Army Reserve.7 An initial ten weeks' recruit training was followed by three
months of corps training, after which national servicemen could then usually
apply for posting to any corps. They were not always successful in obtaining
the posting of their choice. In October 1971 the length of full-time service
was reduced from two years to eighteen months and the length of liability for
service in the Reserve increased from three years to three and a half.8 National servicemen could volunteer for an
additional period of service at any time.
All national servicemen were
liable for military service in
National servicemen received
the same pay and service benefits as Regular Army volunteers. Naturally, the
Army provided free meals, accommodation, uniforms and work clothes, and
medical, dental and hospital treatment. Unmarried soldiers of private rank were
paid $34.16 a week in 1966, married privates $45.71. Extra pay margins were
awarded if soldiers qualified at trade courses conducted at Army schools and were employed in that trade in their units. An additional
combat allowance was awarded during service overseas. Other benefits included
the following:
§
Three weeks' annual leave, with free travel, except for married
soldiers whose families lived in the station area.
§
After two years' service, a gratuity of $80. If discharged on
medical grounds before completing two years' service, a gratuity of not less
than $40.
§
After two years' continuous service, an additional seven days'
leave with pay or one week's extra pay.
§
If holding Intermediate Certificate at time of call-up, permission
to study on Army time to gain Matriculation level. If matriculated at time of call-up,
entitlement to undertake two years of a three-year university degree course by
correspondence at the Army's expense.
§
Free legal advice for those requiring assistance on matters
relating to financial commitments and re-entry to civil employment. Those sent
to 'special service areas' overseas such as
§
Eligibility for legal protection from finance agreements including
mortgages, debts, contracts and hire purchase agreements made before the
national serviceman received his call-up notice. What amounted to financial
assistance from the Army continued after the end of full-time service. If the full-time service was less than a year, the
period was set at equal to the length of time served.
§
Training under the National Service Vocational Training Scheme
where the Army believed a national serviceman's skills could be supplemented by
a course of study or a refresher course, whether full-time, part-time or by
correspondence, or if the serviceman had no job to return to on completing
national service. The scheme covered the cost of postdischarge
training, including compulsory fees, travel fares, textbooks and equipment, and
a living allowance for those studying full-time.
§
Transfer whenever requested or on completion of national service
to the Australian Regular Army. The minimum service obligation in the Regular
Army was three or six years.
§
Eligibility for promotion to non-commissioned and commissioned
ranks and to apply to be sent to the Officer Training Unit after commencement
of basic training. National servicemen who in civil life were doctors or
dentists or who held a commercial pilot's licence were also considered for
officer training.
§
From 1968, membership of the Defence Forces Retirement Benefit
scheme, giving national servicemen and their dependents invalidity, death and
retirement cover.
§
Cover under the provisions of the Commonwealth Employees'
Compensation Act for service-caused death or injury.
§
Pensions, medical treatment and war-service-home rights under the
Repatriation (Special Overseas Service) Act for those injured or killed in
The Army was obliged to make
effective use of the trade skills of national servicemen. Subject to vacancies,
these men were employed in the Arrny in their
civilian occupation, though the Army could not guarantee that every skilled man
would be so employed. Early in the administration of the scheme, after a large
number of students and apprentices called up in the first two ballots had
deferred their national service obligation, the DENS became concerned about the
potentially large number of skilled men liable for national service once the
students and apprentices completed their training. There was also a fear of
resistance from trade unions (particularly metalworking and electrical industry
unions) as the Army would not be able to employ all national servicemen in
their professional occupations. DENS concerns appear to have been dispelled
when subsequent intakes proved it had overestimated the numbers of deferments.
Re-establishment benefits and
reinstatement protection
Re-establishment and civilian
employment benefits were intended 'to protect the interests of national servicemen
in relation to their reinstatement in civilian employment', 'to protect
obligations they have entered into before becoming liable for national
service', and 'to facilitate the re-settlement of national servicemen in civil
life on completion of period of continuous national service'. The following
benefits were provided:
§
A loan of up to $3000 for a business or up to $6000 for
agricultural expenses where a national serviceman needed to be re-established
in a business, profession or occupation. Interest was set at 4.5 per cent a
year, and the first $100 was interest-free.
§
Housing grants under the Commonwealth Home Savings Grants scheme.
Those who served overseas in a 'special service' capacity could qualify for
assistance in building or purchasing a home under the War Service Homes Act.
§
As mentioned before, training under the national service
vocational training scheme was available if a serviceman had no job to return
to on completing national service.
On
Reinstatement protection was
offered to national servicemen who completed two years' full-time service. On
completion of service, they were entitled to resume work in their previous
employment provided they had been with their employer for at least 30 days
before being issued with a call-up notice. Employers were not permitted to sack
national servicemen, and their long service leave and
superannuation credits were to be preserved.
Suffrage and discharge to
stand election
In May 1966 the Government
introduced an amendment to the Electoral Act which gave the vote to members of
the Defence Force under 21 years of age who had served or were serving on
'special duty' in a 'special area' as defined in the Repatriation Act. National
servicemen under 21 serving on 'special duty' in
Men not required to register
Men not required to register
for national service were: Aborigines as defined by the National Service Act;
members of the Permanent Armed Forces (which included the Regular Army) and
former members who had served at least two years; United Nations staff;
official personnel from foreign governments living in Australia; and, until
January 1967, non-British subjects.
'Full-blooded aboriginal
natives, half-caste aboriginal natives and persons who have an admixture of
aboriginal blood and live as aboriginal natives or amongst aborigines' were
exempted from registration, but even such precise language occasionally
permitted problems in determining liability." Throughout the duration of
the national service scheme the DLNS was criticised by other government
departments for exempting Aboriginals and repeatedly urged to remove the
exemption. The department held that it would be impossible to trace and oblige
young Aboriginal men to register, as many of them did not know their birthdate. Not all States kept birth records of
Aboriginals, and each defined Aboriginality differently. Aboriginal Australians
could, however, volunteer for national service. The National Service Act did
not refer to Torres Strait Islanders. As their dates of birth were usually
recorded, the DLNS considered them liable to register but was lenient towards
those who did not, for it considered that the scheme was insufficiently
publicised in the
Non-naturalised immigrants
living in
New regulations commencing in
January 1967 during the fifth registration period exempted nationals of
Other conditions applying to
immigrants were as follows:
§
Men with dual or plural nationality who were both British
nationals and Australian citizens were required to register.
§
Non-British subjects who had completed or undertaken some military
training overseas were required to register in the normal way from January
1967. However, men who had completed fifteen months' continuous full-time
service in a recognised navy, military or air force of a country other than
Australia were granted indefinite deferment of call-up on 'submission of
satisfactory documentary evidence of such service'. Those who completed less
than fifteen months' service were required to undertake a reduced period of
national service of two years less the period of their service overseas. Those
with less than fifteen months' overseas service could nominate to serve in the
Citizen Military Forces for a period varying in length according to the period
served overseas.
§
If a male visitor to Australia were twenty years of age and in
Australia for more than eleven months after 1 January 1967, he had to prove
that he was not 'ordinarily resident' in Australia and establish temporary
visitor status before being exempted from national service.
§
Until legislative amendments in 1967, immigrants whose parents
were naturalised Australians could renounce their citizenship and avoid callup.
§
The option of part-time service in the Citizen Military Forces was
open to non-British subjects. They were, however, required to meet conditions
of entry and one of these conditions was that they had resided in
§
Non-British subjects were permitted to volunteer for national
service if they were twenty years of age or if they had reached the age of
eighteen years and nine months and had a good reason for wishing to volunteer
for service ahead of the normal call-up for their age group.
Non-compliance
Non-compliers or 'defaulters'
were men who failed to register at the proper time, notify change of address,
attend a medical examination, report for call-up, or provide necessary
information when requested to do so. Men who obstructed or resisted a Medical
Board or who made false and misleading statements were also classed as
defaulters. The Government employed a number of methods for tracing these men.
Checks were made on Commonwealth electoral records, the records of the
Commonwealth Employment Service, the Department of Social Services' child
endowment records, and the Department of Immigration's records, mainly incoming
passenger cards. In addition the DLNS obtained information on defaulters from
employers, newspapers, periodicals and anonymous individuals. In some regions
DENS officers had access to motor registration records. The DLNS established a
master record of known defaulters from July 1965 which was circulated and
periodically revised by its regional offices.
The 1968 amendments to the
National Service Act were principally designed to increase penalties for
breaches of the Act and to increase the powers of the Government to trace
defaulters. The amendments, which led to six weeks of intense debate in both
Houses of Parliament, were eventually assented to on 24 June. They also gave
the Government the power to require any individual or organisation to disclose
information about twenty-year-old men liable for call-up. Parents, solicitors, doctors
and ministers of religion were exempted from giving this information. In
addition, most penalties for offences under the Act were doubled. These
included fines for burning registration cards, filling in false registration
cards and making false statements. In its effort to trace student defaulters
the Government sought powers for college and university educational records to
be viewed and checked by DLNS officers. During the six weeks' debate the
Government backed down on sections of the original Bill, yet the power of the
DLNS to demand details of a specific student remained. After protests by the
Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee the Government eventually abandoned all
attempts to gain such powers.
Men who failed without 'good
reason' to register for national service were considered for prosecution. The
fact that a man's birthday was not drawn, or that he was in a class of persons
not called up, was disregarded. Once the DLNS decided to prosecute, the case
was referred to the Deputy Crown Prosecutor and heard in a Magistrate's Court.
If convicted, defaulters could be sentenced to imprisonment for a period equal
to the period of national service they were liable to render: up to two years.
In total, fourteen men were imprisoned for failing to obey a call-up notice.
Before June 1968 men convicted under the National Service Act were taken into
military custody. Following legislative amendments made that month and
initiated by a diverse range of pressure groups—the Returned Services League,
the Australian Council of Churches, the Australian Quaker Peace Committee and
the Federal Pacifist Council of Australia—men prosecuted under the Act came
under civil powers and were henceforth sent to a civil prison.
Once they had registered, late
registrants not defined as defaulters proceeded as though they had registered
on time, a policy employed to handle their cases quickly. In September 1970 the
law was changed and late registrants were denied the ballot unless the
registrant was able to prove that his late registration was due to
circumstances beyond his control.
Statistics
Between 1964 and 1972, 804 286
twenty-year-olds registered for national service and 63 735 national servicemen
served in the Army.12.
Balloted out: 567, 238
§
Granted indefinite deferment: 566 513
§
Awaiting 'next' ballot: 725
Balloted in, not eligible for
ballot, elected to serve in the Citizen Military Forces, and volunteers: 237
048
§
Exemptions: 3563
Theological students,
ministers of religion and members of religious orders: 553
Physical or mental
disabilities: 1768
Conscientious objection
determined by a court: 1242
§
Indefinite deferments: 35 548
Married before the date of
call-up: 20 502
Members of the Citizen Forces:
7197
Citizen Forces whose
obligations completed: 7849
§
No longer liable to be called up: 102 134
Death subsequent to
registration: 916
Served or serving in Permanent
Forces: 2194
Rejected as not meeting the
medical, psychological and educational standards required by the Army: 99 010
Imprisoned for refusal to obey
a call-up notice: 14
§
Unavailable for call-up as at
Granted or being considered
for deferment 15 526
Granted or seeking deferment
on grounds of exceptional hardship: 470
Under investigation for
suspected breaches of National Service Act: 3890
Granted permission to leave
Migrants not included
elsewhere, not yet due for call-up: 1380
§
Called up and enlisted in the Army: 63 740
§
Available for call-up subject to meeting the standards required
for Army service and the outcome of applications for exemption or deferment: 10
187
Termination Act
During the 1972 election
campaign the Australian Labor Party promised that
'all men imprisoned under the National Service Act will be released, pending
prosecutions discontinued and existing convictions expunged'.
Within a few days of winning
office in early December the new Minister for Labour and National Service,
Lance Barnard, suspended the operation of the scheme by administrative action,
cancelling the call-up of approximately 2200 men who had been medically
examined and deferring the liability of all men who had enlisted for service.
National servicemen already in the Army who did not wish to continue their
service were released as quickly as possible. Prosecutions and pending
prosecutions were dropped. Young men who had taken up the option of part-time
military service in the Citizen Military Forces were able to be discharged at
their own request. National servicemen who opted to complete their term of
service were entitled to the same benefits as before. In June 1973 the Whitlam
Government passed the National Service Termination Act, giving legislative
effect to Barnard's administrative action. The Government also intended to
repeal the National Service Act itself as soon as possible, but felt
constrained to wait until national servicemen who continued to serve under the
Act had completed their service and received all the benefits to which they
were entitled under the Act. This state of affairs did not come about before
the dismissal of the Whitlam Government on
The National Service Act 1951
and its subsequent amendments were repealed by the Defence Legislation
Amendment Act of 1992. Following this legislation, the Government retained the
power to introduce conscription under the Defence Act, but only in a time of
war and only with prior parliamentary approval. The Act also revised provisions
concerning conscientious objection, providing for special tribunals to
determine claims and making it possible for an individual to be recognised as a
conscientious objector to a particular war. In introducing the legislation the
Parliamentary Secretary to the Attorney-General, Peter Duncan, said that the
Keating Government's aim was 'to preserve the capacity to introduce
conscription for the protection of