Right: Pakistan's Air Force trains women as combat pilots, flying modern fighter jets.
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Arguments in favour of women in front line combat positions
1. Only those physically and psychologically suited would be appointed
It has been stated repeatedly that there will be no lowering of entry standards for any branch of the armed forces and that only women who meet these standards will be accepted. Therefore, it is claimed that accepting women into all branches of the armed forces will not reduce the ADF's fighting capabilities.
The federal Defence Minister, Stephen Smith, has stated, 'In the future your role in the Defence Force will be determined on your ability, not on the basis of your sex.
A well-managed implementation program will ensure there is no diminution of standards so far as roles are concerned.'
Commenting specifically on the SAS, Mr Smith stated, 'If a woman is capable of doing the entrance program for the SAS or for commandos then they will be in it.'
Currently entry selection to the SAS requires at least one year served in an army unit, typically the commando regiment or combat engineers. What follows is a combination of some of the most gruelling physical and mental tests designed to weed out all but the most dedicated.
Tests vary, but can involve carrying an 80kg pack on endurance marches lasting several days. A test this year required entrants to each carry two 20-litre jerry cans of water in addition to their combat rucksacks.
Psychological tests involved long question-and-answer sessions to test cultural sensitivities, being woken in the middle of the night to write essays or being ordered to strip.
These tests would remain as rigorous when applied to women. It is therefore anticipated that very few women are likely either to apply or be accepted. What is at issue, however, is that those candidates who are capable should be accepted regardless of gender.
2. Women are already accepted in most defence force positions
It has been argued that women already make up an important and growing component of the Australian Armed Forces. It is claimed therefore, that so long as they are able to meet the relevant standards set for each branch of the defence forces, there should be no reason why the remaining seven percent of positions should not be opened to them.
One in five new army recruitments in Australia are women soldiers and the 8006 women serving in the ADF make up 13.8 per cent of the total. These 8,006 women are able to take up 93 percent of defence force positions.
The Royal Australian Air Force has the highest percentage of women at 15.1% (2,121 positions occupied by women), followed by the Royal Australian Navy with 14.6% (1,832 positions), and the Australian Army with 10.6% (2,554 positions).
Women also make up 17.5% of the defence force reserves (1% of the Naval Reserve, 14.6% of the Army Reserve, and 1.9% of the Air Force Reserve). Women's participation in a combined total of the permanent and reserve forces runs at 14.2%.
3. War is no more awful for women than for men
It has been argued that not allowing competent, willing women into frontline combat positions actually discriminates against men. If war is too awful for women, it is argued, why is it not equally awful for men?
This point has been made by Tori Shepherd in an opinion piece published in The Punch on September 28, 2011.
Ms Shepherd stated, '"Women will die, women will suffer, women will be traumatised in combat roles."
So will men, more men. Men have endured bastardisations and rapes and seeing their mates blown up. They suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, family breakdown. Why is it worse if it's a woman?
If Australia is "not ready", it needs to become ready. Or stop anyone going to war.'
Examples have been cited of traumatised men through two world wars and in wars since who have continued to fight either because they were ordered to or believed they should.
Some social critics and feminists have asked why, if it is deemed appropriate to allow men to endure the trauma of battle, willing women should not also be able to fight. The argument becomes any society that is prepared to send its sons to fight should be equally prepared to send its daughters. Anything else is discriminatory, and not only against women.
It has been noted that Australia has difficulty attracting the number of defence force personnel it requires. Australian demographic trends will put pressure on the ADF in the future. Excluding other factors, the aging of the Australian population will result in smaller numbers of potential recruits entering the Australian labour market each year.
Making more positions available to women may help to address this. In 1965, Australia had regular armed forces of around 76,000, with the aid of conscription. That force represented some 69 troops per thousand of the twenty-to-thirty-year-old male cohort. Currently, the figure is around 18 per thousand (counting men and women). Some critics claim that it makes more sense to draw on additional willing women rather than revert to conscripting men.
4. Allowing women to occupy front line combat positions would reduce sexist attitudes in the forces
The decision to open all positions to eligible women in the Australian Defence Force was taken after a series of scandals at the Australian Defence Academy involving the alleged mistreatment of female trainees.
The most recent of these occurred earlier this year, when a male cadet encouraged others to watch him, via Skype, having sex with an unsuspecting female cadet. When she later spoke to the media, after being alerted to what had happened by Defence Force investigators, she was vilified for doing so by other personnel who thought that her conduct, rather than that of the perpetrators, had brought the ADF into disrepute. It is hoped elevating women will promote a change in military culture.
The Defence Minister, Stephen Smith, considers the former prohibition on women taking on combat roles was a major hurdle to sexual equality within the military.
Smith hopes that opening all positions to women will also encourage women to gain senior positions in the ADF and that these two developments will either reduce or remove the more general sexism that appears to operate within the forces.
A 1996, a report on women in the ADF by Clare Burton made the point that leadership was the crucial issue if change was to come. The report stated, 'Discrimination issues are leadership issues first and foremost. If unequivocal commitment and support from leaders is the critical leverage point that is the key area where change in practices and behaviours must take place.'
5. Allowing women into frontline combat positions would open more promotion opportunities for women in the forces
Currently only 4.5% of senior military ranks are held by females, although women make up 18.5% of the Defence Force.
It has been argued that until all positions in the Australian Defence Forces are open to women it will be very difficult for women to assume major positions of command. Three reasons have been offered in support of this claim. Firstly, it has been claimed women would not have the range of experience required to demonstrate competence for senior command. Secondly, it has been suggested that the fact that women are not considered potentially suitable for all positions in the lower indicates a mindset within the ADF that would preclude women from the highest levels of command. Finally, it has been argued, this mindset would infect women in the ADF so that they doubted their own competence for command.
This last position has been put by former Australian Human Rights Commissioner, Pru Goward. Ms Goward stated, 'In theory it would be possible for a woman to be chief of the defence Force or chief of any of the three armed services.
In practice, it is difficult to see a woman being promoted to the most senior ranks without any of that direct experience. It is that simple, minor exclusion ...that might be sending the message to women that in the end, they aren't really suitable.'
The Defence Minister, Stephen Smith, has indicated that this opening up of all positions within the defence forces to those with the ability to do them, irrespective of gender, should also help remove any barriers that currently exist to women assuming high command. Mr Smith said any military opportunity for women 'should be determined on the basis of physical and intellectual capacity, not on gender. So the Chief of the Defence Force will bring forward that matter as a matter of priority.'
General Peter Leahy, director of the University of Canberra's National Security Institute and a former army chief, has said the promotion of women to more senior ranks will be a logical consequence of women serving in all roles.
6. Women are already involved in combat
It is claimed that women are already involved in direct combat. This is because the nature of modern warfare has changed. It is often city-based and involves occupation rather than forward attack. There is no clear frontline and the centre of battle can shift dramatically and unexpectedly.
About 1500 Australian troops are serving in war-torn Afghanistan, including many women based in forward units as combat medics, communications and intelligence specialists. Given the nature of the war, any of these women could find themselves involved in direct combat. Unofficial figures provided to The Australian suggest up to 15 per cent of military jobs in Afghanistan involve women.
Peter Leahy is a retired chief of the army and a senior University of Canberra academic. Commenting on the role of women in modern warfare, Leahy has stated, 'It's war among the population and women are there among the support roles; they're already right up there on the front line.
So, practice shows us they are not going to pull back on our capabilities; they add capabilities when you work among communities who expect their women will be searched or spoken to by other women.'
Other nations have also recognised that the nature of warfare has changed and that the division between frontline and non-frontline forces is no longer meaningful.
In the United States, the Pentagon commission recommended in its draft report that US defence forces remove their ban on women serving in combat positions. In November 2010, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said,
'I'd be hard-pressed to say that any woman who serves in Afghanistan today, or who served in Iraq over the last few years, did so without facing the risks of their male counterparts ... In a war where there is no longer a clear delineation between the front lines and the sidelines ... where the war can grab you anywhere, this will be the first generation of veterans where large segments of women returning will have been exposed to some form of combat.'
Expert claim that this also applies to Australian women fighting in these zones.