Women will now fight on Australia's frontline

Autralia plans to withdraw the bulk of its forces by 2014. Photo / Supplied

aMore than a century after the army was formed and a decade since the proposal was put to the Government, Australia has opened all combat roles in the Defence Force to women.

The decision, which will include the SAS, commandos and elite navy diving units, was announced yesterday and came after consultations with New Zealand and Canada, which have allowed women into frontline jobs.

The move is expected to meet with some resistance and will be phased in over five years in what Defence Minister Stephen Smith said would be a careful and methodical process to enable the force to manage cultural change.

Although the decision would in theory allow women into combat in Afghanistan, Australia plans to withdraw the bulk of its forces by 2014, about midway through the phased programme.

In the event women were assigned to combat roles there, Smith said it was unlikely their presence would make Australian units a greater target for Taleban insurgents.

"This is simply putting into the frontline those people who are best placed to do the job."

Smith said that provided women passed required physical and psychological standards, gender would no longer be a barrier to service and that ability would be the only criterion.

Women would need to meet the same fitness requirements applying to males.

"We have an Australian Army that's been going for 110 years, an Australian Navy that's been going formally for 100 years, and an Australian Air Force that's been going for 90 years, and [the Cabinet] resolved to remove the final restrictions on the capacity of women to serve in frontline combat roles."

Smith said the five-year transition period would ensure military standards were maintained, and gave as an example of the potential a female soldier who had been unable to serve as a sniper in Afghanistan despite being the best shot in her platoon.

"Why would we take away the chance of the best shot in the platoon from playing that role?" he said.

Under previous policy women were excluded from key combat roles. Only 14 per cent of the 81,000-strong Defence Force are women.

Among the most potentially contentious roles would be special forces operations, which are high risk and often based on small, closely knit units.

But Smith said if a woman was capable of passing the entrance programme for the SAS or commandos she would be accepted.

The decision follows an earlier move by the navy to allow shared accommodation for male and female sailors on board its submarine fleet.