The Australian Defence Force is set to get its first Muslim Imam as part of a push to attract more recruits from different cultural and language backgrounds.
Assistant Defence Minister Stuart Robert announced on Monday he was asking Defence to "renew efforts" on recruiting a more "culturally and linguistically diverse workforce".
Part of this is to find an Imam – an Islamic religious leader – to serve on the ADF's religious advisory committee, which provides advice to the force on policies to meet its personnel's spiritual needs.
"I have asked my department to move as quickly as possible to identify a part-time Islamic Imam to join the ADF's religious advisory committee to ensure those 96 ADF members of an Islamic faith have appropriate representation," Mr Robert said in a speech to Parliament.
The part-time Imam will join one Jewish and five Christian religious leaders who make up the committee. He will serve in a policy advisory role – a first for the ADF – but will not provide pastoral care as do Christian Chaplains in the force.
About 5.7 percent of the ADF's 57,000-strong permanent force identify as coming from a non-English speaking background. About 5.4 percent were born overseas in countries other than New Zealand, Britain, Canada and the US.
Mr Robert said progress on cultural diversity within the ADF needed to happen more quickly.
"It is clear the growth of a culturally and linguistically diverse workforce, that represents the changing face of modern Australia, is moving too slowly," Mr Robert said. "This is going to change."
He said there would also be a "dedicated recruitment strategy" to target sections of the community from which soldiers, sailors and airmen and women are not typically drawn.
Mr Robert stressed this was not about appearances or "social engineering" but rather was vital to making the ADF a better fighting force.
"This strategy … is born out of the stark reality that combat power will be enhanced," he said.
It would help Defence engage with neighbours in the Asia-Pacific region as well as overseas partners such as the United Nations and NATO, and also in operations such as peacekeeping and disaster relief, he said.
"As modern military operations evolve, there will be a growing requirement for greater interaction with, and understanding of, different cultures."
A similar previous example was the ADF's "female engagement teams" deployed in Afghanistan, where its members could talk to local women about how to improve their lives, which was a critical part of that mission, he said.
Defence had previously successfully used personnel who spoke Ukrainian, Chinese and Japanese in recent operations and exercises.
