New six year gong

AN ESTIMATED 400,000 past and present ADF members will receive the Australian Defence Medal, to be issued mid-next year.
The new medal will recognise volunteer service in the Navy, Army and Air Force.

Approvals are being sought to allow the award of the medal, including Royal Assent from the Queen, medal design and regulations.

It is expected the medal will be issued as a matter of course, and it’s unlikey serving members will be required to apply for it.

The Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence, Mal Brough, said those who had served for a total of six years in the ADF, full-time or reserve, would be eligible and the medal would be backdated to recognise past service.

Mr Brough said the medal would be retrospective from the end of WW2, to recognise many people had served their nation, but hadn’t been recognised by an operational medal.

National Servicemen would not be eligible unless they subsequently volunteered and completed the requisite six years’ volunteer service.

“Six years reflects a length of time that we could be reasonably certain that most people would have completed the requisite training and experience in the ARA or reserve forces, to be considered fully deployable should they have been called upon,” Mr Brough said.

He said issue of the medal would be a big task and would take time.

“It is anticipated that once a design has been finalised and the medals have been struck, the issuing of medals could begin around middle of 2005.”

John Logus, Honours and Awards, said gaining determinations on the draft regulations and design of the medal is high on the agenda.

“When something has been agreed and signed on, we’ll promulgate that,” he said.