Editing Australian Defence Force (section)

===Reserves===

Each of the branches of the ADF has a reserve component. These forces are the [[Royal Australian Naval Reserve]], [[Australian Army Reserve]] and [[Royal Australian Air Force Reserve]].{{sfn|Australian National Audit Office|2001|p=11}} The main role of the reserves is to supplement the permanent elements of the ADF during deployments and crises, including [[natural disaster]]s. This can include attaching individual reservists to regular units or deploying units composed entirely of reserve personnel.{{sfn|Australian National Audit Office|2001|p=29}} As reservists serve on a part-time basis, they are less costly to the government than permanent members of the ADF, but the nature of their service can mean that reservists have a lower level of readiness than regular personnel and require further training before they can be deployed.{{sfn|Australian National Audit Office|2001|p=30}} It has historically proven difficult to set a level of training requirements which allows reservists to be rapidly deployable yet does not act as a disincentive to recruitment and continued participation.{{sfn|Dennis et al|2008|p=46}} Successive governments since the 1960s have also been reluctant to use the "call out" powers to require reservists to undertake active service.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Smith|first1=Hugh|title=A 'total force' at last? Change in the Defence workforce|url=https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/a-total-force-at-last-change-in-the-defence-workforce/|website=The Strategist|publisher=Australian Strategic Policy Institute|access-date=7 January 2018|date=5 December 2013|archive-date=8 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108062359/https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/a-total-force-at-last-change-in-the-defence-workforce/|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:5-6 RVR ANZAC Day 2008.JPG|thumb|left|Members of the Army Reserve [[5th/6th Battalion, Royal Victoria Regiment]] marching through Melbourne on [[Anzac day]] 2006]]

There are two main categories of reserve personnel; those in the active reserve and those in the standby reserve.<ref name="Year_Book_Aust_2009-10_people">{{cite web |author=Australian Bureau of Statistics |year=2010 |title=People |url=http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/6D4CD661FDBA3226CA25773700169C59?opendocument |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110312161143/http://abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/6D4CD661FDBA3226CA25773700169C59?opendocument |archive-date=12 March 2011 |access-date=18 July 2010 |work=Year Book Australia, 2009–10 |publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics |location=Canberra}}</ref> Members of the active reserve have an annual minimum training obligation.{{sfn|Australian National Audit Office|2001|p=31}} Reservists can volunteer to undertake more than the minimum periods of training and active service.{{sfn|Defence People Group|2017|p=6}} Members of the standby reserve are not required to undertake training, and would only be called up in response to a national emergency or to fill a specialised position. Most standby reservists are former full-time members of the ADF.{{sfn|Australian National Audit Office|2001|p=58}}{{sfn|Defence People Group|2017|p=11}}

While Australian Naval Reserve personnel are assigned to permanent units, most members of the Army Reserve and Air Force Reserve are members of reserve units. Most of the RAAF's reserve units are not intended to be deployed, and reserve personnel are generally attached to regular air force units during their periods of active service.{{sfn|Australian National Audit Office|2001|pp=36, 61, 65, 76}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Air Force Reserves|date=3 November 2017|url=https://www.airforce.gov.au/our-people/careers/reserves|publisher=Royal Australian Air Force|access-date=26 January 2018|archive-date=27 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127084046/https://www.airforce.gov.au/our-people/careers/reserves|url-status=live}}</ref> The Army Reserve is organised into permanent combat and support units, though most are currently manned at levels well below their authorised strengths and are not capable of deploying as formed units.{{sfn|Smith|2014|pp=42–43}}

The ADF's increased activities since 1999 and shortfalls in recruiting permanent personnel has led to reservists being more frequently called to active service.{{sfn|Grey|2008|p=280}} This has included large scale domestic deployments, which have included providing security for major events such as the [[2000 Summer Olympics]] and responding to natural disasters. Large numbers of reserve personnel have also been deployed as part of ADF operations in Australia's region; this has included the deployment of Army Reserve [[Company (military unit)|rifle companies]] to East Timor and the Solomon Islands. Smaller numbers of reservists have taken part in operations in locations distant from Australia.{{sfn|Department of Defence|2009|p=90}} Notably, companies of the Army Reserve 1st Commando Regiment were regularly deployed to Afghanistan as part of the Special Operations Task Group.<ref>{{cite web|title=1st Commando Regiment|url=https://www.army.gov.au/our-people/units/special-operations-command/1st-commando-regiment|publisher=Australian Army|access-date=31 December 2017|archive-date=31 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171231103353/https://www.army.gov.au/our-people/units/special-operations-command/1st-commando-regiment|url-status=live}}</ref>