National Service Australia
Within these pages, we recognise young Australians conscripted to serve and establish a record of some of the facts about the National Service Scheme introduced by the Liberal government in 1964.
Robert Menzies described it as selective compulsory service in his Hansard speech on the 10th November that year — the speech is reproduced from Hansard and can be read here.
Note that Menzies did not enlist to serve in the AIF in WWI but was happy to consign young Australian men to serve in the Australian army in Vietnam
Robert Menzies was the Prime Minister who made the life changing statement for nearly 64,000 young men who were required to service at measly pay rates to prop up the United States in what is now clearly recognised as a civil war between north and south Vietnam.
The Americans knew that it could not win the war and this was clearly articulated by the think tank known as the Rand Corporation in its treatise The Oregon Trail. More can be found about this six volume work by searching for Freeman Dyson in How to be an Underdog and Win.
It is not the intention of this site to revisit the history of Australia’s involvement in Vietnam but rather just put on the record some of the facts that are not presented to the public at large. For example, the names of the men who died in training; forgotten and not remembered. The wounded from Vietnam who died post Vietnam and are not remembered because they died after the “official cut off date”.
Just for the record Australia was not at war in Vietnam it was officially termed by the government as “an area of active service’.
Read some facts as presented in the: STRATEGIC BASIS OF AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE POLICY (1964) and note the comment:
In Indochina, “the chances of success against the Viet Cong are not good”, and taking the most optimistic view, a long drawn out struggle must be expected”.
This view was discounted by Menzies and thus over 800,000 must register for recruitment into the selective compulsory service under the threat of gaol or immediate induction into the army without the requirement to participate in the lottery.
A quaint term used to describe how the Department of Labour and National Service described the method of how the unlucky men were “selected”. Remember these young men could not vote.
Read also the copies of Hansard about pay and conditions or lack thereof in the Australian Parliament on 17th March 1966.
About National Service
Learn more about the history and politics that lead to the implementation and finish of national service
Physical Hazards
Learn more about the hazards faced by Australian soldiers at home and overseas while serving their country
Nominal Honour Roll
Recognising those that have served their country through National Service.
Statistics
Find out more about the numbers that served their country through National Service in Australia
Answers to key questions about National Service in Australia
When did national service start in Australia?
Robert Menzies declared the implementation of the first National Service on 10th November 1964 that sent conscripts directly into active service.
The first national service program started in 1911.
When did Australia enter the Vietnam Conflict?
Active service in Vietnam was declared 13th July 1962.
When did national service finish in Australia?
National Service ended in 1972.
