The Secretary for Defence and Chief of the Defence Force are looking for ways of 'ripping up' unnecessary 'red tape'.

Dr Allan Hawke launched their Rip Up Red Tape campaign - inviting everyone in Defence to contribute - at a Senior Leadership Summit in Canberra. The Summit, on 11 and 12 February, involved Defence officers of SES level or star rank.

He said he and Admiral Barrie are out to rid the Defence of time-consuming bureaucratic procedures.

'Draw on your professional knowledge, skills and experience so as we can match our non-operational business performance with that of the ADF's operational performance,' Dr Hawke said.

'Our Rip Up Red Tape campaign is to eliminate outdated and inefficient documents.'

The focus is on reviewing documents that have built up over time and are now serving to hinder processes rather than help them.

'But the Rip Up Red Tape campaign is not designed to undermine the legislative framework and Government policy which underpins Defence's work,' he said.

'It's part of our continuous improvement program, the essence of which involves all of us scrutinising our practices, processes, systems and procedures for better ways of doing things.

'Simpler, shorter, more efficient and effective are the key words."

Rip Up Red Tape began with a week-long discussion forum.

'We would value the input of people who missed out on this and would still like to contribute and we're happy to treat them confidentially if this will help."

Those who would like to contribute should either:

Email the campaign directly at ripupredtape@defence.gov.au; or

Post suggestions to Rip Up Red Tape Campaign, R1-2-C009, Russell Offices, CANBERRA 2600.

'Your suggestions should specify Defence documents that hinder you in doing your job and suggest changes or improvements that can be made to them.'

'CDF and I are looking forward to constructive comments that can be used to improve our processes, and we hope this is the spirit in which people will contribute.'