Income of ex-serving ADF members
Ex-serving ADF members generally had a higher weekly personal income than the Australian population
Income is defined as an amount an individual can earn, derive or receive for their own use or benefit, profits, or regular payments as an allowance (SA 2021). As financial wellbeing is connected to wellbeing across a number of areas of a person’s life, such as ability to access education and health services, it is important to understand the income circumstances of the ex-serving ADF population. Weekly personal income is a self-reported income measure sourced from the 2016 Census. Each person was asked to indicate the range within which their total income from all sources placed (rather than their exact income) (ABS 2016b).
Two personal income ranges have been used to investigate ex-serving ADF member’s income circumstances. These are the $800 and above per week range, depicting the median weekly personal income of Australian males in the linked dataset, and the $2,000 and above per week range representing those earning a personal income of over $100,000 per year, being the closest income range to represent the top 10% of Australian weekly personal income earners.
In 2016, ex-serving ADF males and females generally had a higher weekly personal income compared to the Australian male and female population. More than three quarters of ex-serving ADF males earned a weekly personal income of $800 and above (76%), compared to around half of Australian males (52%) in 2016. Three in five ex-serving ADF females earned a weekly personal income of $800 and above (60%), compared to just over one third of Australian females (34%).
Almost one quarter of ex-serving ADF males earned $2,000 and above per week (24%), compared with 13% of Australian males. Just under 1 in 8 ex-serving ADF females earned $2,000 and above per week (12%), compared with 4.9% of Australian females.
Factors that were associated with an increased likelihood of ex-serving ADF members earning a high income in 2016 were:
- being a Commissioned Officer at the time of separation from the ADF,
- separating voluntarily from the ADF compared with separating involuntarily for medical reasons,
- serving 10 years or more compared with those who had served less than 1 year,
- being male, and
- separating from the Air Force compared with separating from the Army or Navy.
Age was also statistically significant in predicting whether an ex-serving ADF member was earning a high income in 2016.
Ex-serving ADF males were more likely to be earning $800 or more per week (82%) and $2,000 or more per week (42%) if they separated from the ADF as Commissioned Officers than those who separated as Other Ranks (75% and 20% respectively). Ex-serving ADF females were also more likely to be earning $800 or more a week (72%) and $2,000 or more a week (27%) in 2016 if they separated as Commissioned Officers than those who separated as Other Ranks (57% and 7.9% respectively).
Those who separated from the Air Force were likely to earn more per week in 2016 than those who separated from the Navy or Army (Figure 7). Of those who separated from the Air Force, 79% of males and 63% of females earned $800 or more per week, compared with 76% of males and 55% of females who separated from the Navy, and 75% of males and 61% of females who separated from the Army. Nearly 1 in 3 ex-serving ADF males who separated from the Air Force were earning $2,000 or more per week (30%), compared to 25% who separated from the Navy, and 22% who separated from the Army. The rates halved for females, with 14% of ex-serving ADF females who separated from the Air Force earned $2,000 and above, compared to 13% who separated from the Army and 8.0% who separated from the Navy.
For ex-serving ADF males and females, as their length of service increased so did their income, noting that this pattern is confound by age, with income (and wealth) typically increasing as a person’s age increases (AIHW 2021c). Of those who had served less than 1 year, 64% of males and 47% of females earned $800 a week or more, compared with 80% of males and 65% of females who served 10 years or more. Similarly, of those who had served less than 1 year, 9.8% of males and 3.9% of females earned $2,000 a week or more, compared with 31% ex-serving ADF males and 16% ex-serving ADF females who served 10 years or more.
Figure 7: Proportion of ex-serving ADF members in 2016, weekly personal income by service characteristics
The interactive data visualisation includes weekly personal income levels from negative income to $3,000 or more. Ex-serving ADF males were more likely to be earning $800 or more per week (82%) and $2,000 or more per week (42%) if they separated from the ADF as Commissioned Officers than those who separated as Other Ranks (75% and 20% respectively). Ex-serving ADF females were also more likely to be earning $800 or more a week (72%) and $2,000 or more a week (27%) in 2016 if they separated as Commissioned Officers than those who separated as Other Ranks (57% and 7.9% respectively).
