Asia-Pacific News
Few pips for Australia's female soldiers
Dec 30, 2009, 6:16 GMT
Sydney - Australia has only one female general and just 30 of the 537 most senior officers in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) are women, news reports said Wednesday.
Of the 55,000 ADF personnel, 7,183, or 13 per cent, are women. But of the 167 officers ranked brigadier or above only seven are females.
'I want to see higher female participation rates across the three services,' ADF chief Angus Houston told the Daily Telegraph. 'Life in the military offers no end of opportunity in education and challenging work.'
Women serve in support roles on the front line, driving trucks for instance, but are still excluded from actual combat and being part of the elite Special Air Service regiment.
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