Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence Fran Bailey has launched the third year of the ADF Parliamentary Program designed to help Members and Senators become more familiar with Defence at a working level.

And this year, for the first time, the program will become an exchange program with ADF members spending time in parliamentary and electoral offices to experience some of the realities of a politician’s office.

Ms Bailey said there were now 11 options for Parliamentarians wanting to join the awareness program which would be conducted during non-sitting dates of federal Parliament.

“By spending time with the Navy, Army or Air Force, Members and Senators can gain a valuable insight into what really happens in the ships, battalions, squadrons and units that deliver the physical component of our security,” she said.

Leut-Cmdr Samantha Jackman is the first ADF member to join the program, working in Senate Whip and South Australian Senator Jeannie Ferris’s office.

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