If national defence is a whole-of-government, whole-of-nation effort to harness national power, then the government and private sector should work together to support the sustainable employment of defence families, particularly the spouses or partners of Australian Defence Force members and veterans. Current threats to Australia’s security heighten the need to ensure all available national resources, including the national workforce, can respond should conflict occur.

Defence partners work in a wide variety of occupations and industries, but several features of the military lifestyle disincentivise partner employment. These include a reliance on unpaid work of partners; a lack of access to childcare; frequent relocations due to deployment; and employers’ misunderstanding of (or even bias and discrimination against) defence partners as employees.

Unfortunately, the professional contributions that partners make, and the challenges they face in doing so, are often overlooked in favour of a focus on the support they provide ADF members and veterans. It is unsurprising, given that most defence partners are women, that much of the narrative about defence and veteran partners in Australia focuses on them as loved ones and caregivers, their sacrifices and support recognised as important contributors to ADF capability. In fact, research from Canada argues ^[1] that militaries rely on the unpaid labour of spouses. This not only impacts the financial security and wellbeing of families but also has implications for labour market participation and productivity.

In World War II, Australia’s workforce could not meet wartime obligations when men left to serve on the front lines. The government soon realised women were needed to fill the roles. After initially underestimating the need for women in the labour market, the government had to overcome significant challenges to facilitate it through enacting legislation, adjusting industrial relations policies and negotiating with unions. There were other barriers too that had to be overcome, including stereotypes, social concerns, hesitation by women and a lack of supporting infrastructure such as childcare.

But by 1943 there were more women in the workforce than ever before, including many married women whose husbands were serving in the armed forces. Australia’s 1956 ‘war book’, which intended to facilitate future transitions from peace to war, identified necessary civilian measures to achieve the best possible use of limited ‘manpower’.

A similar scenario has unfolded in Ukraine, where war has created significant labour shortages and a reliance on women to fill roles. The Ukrainian government has lifted restrictions on the type of work women can do; reduced pay gaps; funded and established childcare services; encouraged women into non-traditional roles; and upskilled and reskilled workers.

A special issue ^[2] of The European Journal of Social Science Research reports that the war has not only tested Ukraine’s ability to withstand external aggression, but has reshaped its social fabric, institutional structures and civic engagement. Much has been made of the contribution of Ukraine’s national resilience to withstand Russia’s invasion, driven by multiple actors, many from the grass roots level as opposed to top-down centralised government efforts.

The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of the workforce to national resilience. Defence partners performed essential work in sectors such as healthcare and education—a fact recognised at the time by the chief of the defence force, Angus Campbell, who reassured families the ADF would ‘support, wherever possible, our family members who are in health and support roles in protecting our community.’ However, some partners found it difficult to manage their professional and personal commitments given the equally important work being performed by the ADF.

Partner employment challenges are not new, nor have they changed much. They were identified in Sue Hamilton’s 1986 report on problems facing defence spouses, and reiterated in the latest ADF Families Survey and by the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.

There is an increasing need for Defence to minimise the negative effect of military life on partner employment and engage public and private sectors in the education, training, skills-based hiring, professional development and retention of partners. This has the added benefit of engaging the Australian public ^[3] in understanding and supporting national preparedness efforts.

Supporting ADF families not only provides a strong foundation for a strong defence force; it also builds a foundation for a strong and resilient society. Both are needed in the interests of national security. History and recent events have taught us that overcoming barriers to partner employment will take time. Efforts that adequately address them are long overdue and must begin in earnest now.