WHAT WAS CLAIMED
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is trying to pass a bill to conscript Australians for war.
OUR VERDICT
False. The government is not proposing to introduce conscription.
AAP FACTCHECK - The government isn't planning legislation to draft Australians into the defence force and hasn't signed anyone up for forced conscription, despite claims on social media.
The claim misinterprets long-standing defence legislation, which permits conscription after a proclamation passes both houses of parliament.
The Albanese government has not taken these steps and currently has no policy to reintroduce mandatory military service.
ADF personnel are currently deployed in peacekeeping, training and surveillance operations in the Middle East, Africa and the Indo-Pacific region. Australia also provides military and financial aid to Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.
The false claim is being shared widely on social media, including a March 9 Facebook post featuring a photo of Section 59 of the Defence Act.
"Albanese now trying to pass a bill to conscript Australia's for war 18 to 60 years old [sic]," the caption said.
Another post pointing to the same law said: "Australian government signed us up for forced conscription last week. Hope you all ready for WAR !!!"
The Defence Act was first passed in 1903 to establish Australia's navy and army, and now governs how the entire defence force operates.
In 1911 universal service - compulsory naval or military training for all men between the ages of 12 and 26 - passed into law, but the scheme was repealed in 1929.
Compulsory military service within Australia and its region came into effect after the outbreak of the Second World War, and the last national service was reintroduced in 1964 amid conflicts in Southeast Asia, with powers enabling the government to send Australians to fight overseas introduced in 1965.
The Whitlam government abolished that scheme in 1972.
Section 59 of the Defence Act outlines who is liable to serve in the defence force during times of war: all people aged between 18 and 60 years old who have lived in Australia for more than six months.
Specific exemptions for health, professional, religious or conscientious reasons are outlined in Section 61A.
However, the act says that before people can be called to serve, the governor-general must make a proclamation, which needs to be approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate (Section 60).
Dr Tristan Moss, a senior lecturer in history at the University of NSW, said the Defence Act still permits conscription.
He noted the findings of a 2023 joint parliamentary inquiry into international armed conflict decision-making, which confirmed that the governor-general may call upon people who meet eligibility requirements to serve during times of war.
However, Dr Moss said he was not aware of any government policy to introduce conscription.
"There would be some serious political hurdles to overcome, in that it would likely be deeply unpopular," he told AAP FactCheck.
The Department of Defence confirmed there were no plans to introduce a national service conscription scheme.
"Maintaining a trained and professional Australian Defence Force is the most effective way of delivering on Australia's defence requirements," a Defence spokesman told AAP FactCheck.
Some Facebook posts have pointed to a recent change to the legislation as evidence of conscription being reintroduced in early 2025.
"Australia's prime minister Anthony Albanese has just amended the Conscription Act dated 21 February 2025 to include Australians up to 60 years of age to go off and fight in his globalist war. Here he is hoping and wishing for World War 3," a caption said.
While the act was updated in February, it was related to an updated acronym and had nothing to do with military service.
References to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in the act needed changing after parliament passed legislation in May 2024 to abolish it and replace it with a new body called the Administrative Review Tribunal.
In Sections 46 and 47 of the Defence Act, the acronym "AAT" was removed and substituted with "ART".
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