Television Interview, Today Show

SUBJECT: Space operations recruitment

KARL STEFANOVIC, HOST: Well, in a giant leap for Australia's national security, the Defence Force is announcing new roles relating to the big unknown: space.

SARAH ABO, HOST : The new specialised roles aim to prepare our forces for threats that are beyond the land, sea and air. To discuss, we are joined this morning by Lieutenant General Susan Coyle and Minister for Defence Personnel Matt Keogh. Good to see you both this morning. Susan, let's start with you. What an exciting opportunity this is.

LT-GEN SUSAN COYLE, CHIEF OF JOINT CAPABILITIES: Oh, it is an exciting opportunity to have these trades go live. And if you want to go to our ADF website career page and have a look at what opportunities are there for you in the future, we highly encourage you to.

ABO: And apologies, Lieutenant, is what I meant. But, Matt, you claim the ADF is entering the most challenging strategic environment since the Second World War. How will these roles improve the force's capabilities? Because it does seem extra-terrestrial.

MATT KEOGH, MINISTER FOR DEFENCE PERSONNEL: Look, it absolutely is out of this world to have these roles now. Launching for direct recruitment into our Defence Force, space operations is vital in supporting the operations across our Defence Force, whether it's on land, at sea, in air and supporting our cyber operations as well. Being able to bring people directly into the Defence Force with these new roles is important for expanding that capability.

STEFANOVIC: Lieutenant General, look, this is such an important recruitment drive, I reckon, because there are a lot of kids out there who may look at the Defence Force and go, “I don't really want to do this, but that is super interesting to me”. Tell us about the positions available and who is suitable for it.

COYLE: So, anybody is suitable to come and join our team. So, the types of roles they can do is everything from military strategic communications (MILSATCOM) all the way through to missile warning and space domain awareness. So, there is a range of roles and functions that they can perform. We will absolutely train them to do everything. They don't need to have anything other than that enthusiasm, strong sense of values and an aspiration to join our Defence Force.

STEFANOVIC: Look, I was in Tamworth over the weekend and I went past the Reserves branch there, and I looked up the Reserves, and it said you could join up until the age of 55. So, is it possible for me to join?

ABO: Not too late!

COYLE: It's never too late for anybody to join the reserves. We have jobs for full-time or part-time.

STEFANOVIC: There you go. Let's get into it Sarah.

ABO: Yeah, I don’t know if I don't want to be led by you out there on the field or in space. Hey, Matt, just a quick one --

STEFANOVIC: Anywhere.

ABO: What's the timeline on this? What are we talking here? When do they - when can you start?

KEOGH: So, people can apply right now for these roles coming into Space Operations. We're looking at training for those roles later in the year for the people who sign up right now. And we're already doing training with people across the Defence Force that are now transferring into these Space Operation positions. But being able to, as you say, expand it for people who are not in our Defence Force now, might not have thought of a career in the Defence Force, but think, “Wow, that space thing, that's pretty exciting”. And as you said, you know, it's really on the bleeding edge of new technology in our Defence Force. So, being able to come into a completely different type of role and to contribute to our national security through space capability, it's exciting, it's new. And we really encourage people to get onto that ADF Careers website and check it out.

KARL STEFANOVIC: All right, Fantastic, Matt, thank you. And Lieutenant General, I'll see you at orientation.

SARAH ABO: Don't go easy on him, okay?

SUSAN COYLE: We look forward to working with you. 

SARAH ABO: Put him through his paces.

KARL STEFANOVIC: I don’t reckon I'm smart enough for that. 

ENDS