Former prime minister Tony Abbott calls for young Australians to complete compulsory national service

Former prime minister Tony Abbott has called for young Australians to “give something back” to the country by doing a stint of compulsory national service.

He proposed the plan on the Institute of Public Affairs’ Australia’s Future podcast, which would entail school-leavers spending a “significant period of time” completing some form of service to the country.

Under Mr Abbott’s scheme, this service can be in the form of “putting on the uniform” or completing a broad scope of volunteer work.

Stream the news you want, when you want with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends 31 October, 2023

He suggested working in a remote Indigenous community, a nursing home or deploying in the Australian Peace Corps as options for those not interested in military service.

“Whether it’s going to work in a remote Indigenous community to try to ensure the schools have got plenty of good role models for young people,” he said.

“Whether its deploying in the Australian Peace Corps to the South Pacific.

“There are all sorts of things that I think we could very usefully talk about asking of our young people.”

Mr Abbott said the service could improve the relationship young Australians have with their country and foster social cohesion.

“We constantly talk about rights,” Mr Abbott said.

“We constantly talk about what we’re going to do for people. Yes, we have rights and the government has certain obligations to us, which it should do. It’s best to discharge, but this is a two-way street.

“It’s about giving as well as receiving and I think we do have to talk more about what we can give back to our country.”

Australia has a chequered history of conscription, having introduced the policy during both World Wars, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

Conscription ended in 1972 following a controversial policy of compulsory national service during the unpopular Vietnam War.