Australia may relax drugs policy on army recruits

CANBERRA - Australia's military is considering scrapping its tough anti-drugs policy in order to attract more recruits to the armed forces.

Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said he was considering scrapping the rule, saying a person's character and ability should be the main tests for new defence recruits.

Under current rules, a person is automatically rejected as a recruit if they admit to having taken illegal drugs. Nelson said that meant someone who lied about drug use could be accepted, while an honest person would be rejected.

"I can say no to that (question) myself, but the reality is about 40-45 per cent of the adult population have (tried drugs)," Nelson told a defence conference on Tuesday.

In his first major speech since he became defence minister in January, Nelson said he had taken responsibility for recruitment as Australia's defence forces struggle to meet recruiting targets in Australia's tight labor market.

In December, the government announced plans to expand the size of the army by about 1,500 over 10 years, from its current 42,000 soldiers, including 16,800 reservists.

But with Australia's unemployment rate at near 30-year lows, the defence forces regularly fail to meet recruiting targets, particularly in some specialist areas.

Nelson, who was education minister before taking on defence, blamed school teachers for a culture where school leavers did not see the value of a defence career.

"Unfortunately there is a minority of those in the classroom teaching children that bring pejorative views to the task, not just in relation to defence but in relation to non-university based careers," he said.

- REUTERS