OFFICIAL

Dear James,

Acknowledgement

I refer to your correspondence of 4 August 2025 seeking access to
documents held by the Department of Defence (Defence), under the Freedom
of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). This email is to advise you that your
request has been received and allocated for Case Management.

The scope of your request is:

Please provide any media statement, communications pack, emails and other
documents and correspondence produced by Defence or its recruitment or
communications or public relations subcontractors (or any combination of
the above) in respect of the various stories published by various media
outlets on 3 and 4 August such as the below:

The Guardian

Australian defence force fails to meet recruitment targets but numbers
improving
[1]https://www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

ABC News

TikTok and online games driving surge in Defence Force recruitment - ABC
News

[2]https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-03/s...

The Sydney Morning Herald

Ads on TikTok and video games drive 15-year surge in defence force
enrolment
[3]https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/...

AFR

Cheap homes, bonuses and TikTok: how Defence is turning around its
recruitment crisis
[4]https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/che...

Yahoo

Defence force recruitment has biggest surge in a decade

[5]https://au.news.yahoo.com/defence-force-...

The Canberra Times

ADF enlistments at 15-year high after social media campaign
[6]https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/9...

The Australian

Cash bonuses, lower standards help boost ADF numbers

[7]https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/...

The Courier Mail

How gaming and TikTok helped ADF smash recruitment targets

[8]www.couriermail.com.au%2Fnews%2Fqueensland%2Fqld-politics%2Fhow-gaming-and-tiktok-helped-adf-smash-recruitment-targets%2Fnews-story%2F880ebdffd8c2bfe0c2fbda2dc130a468

Disclaimer

Where staff details are captured in documents within the scope of your FOI
request, this information will be redacted; this includes private email
addresses, signatures, personnel (PMKeyS) numbers and mobile telephone
numbers, unless you specifically request such details. Defence excludes
duplicates of documents and any documents sent to or from you.
Furthermore, Defence only considers final versions of documents.

Charges

Defence may impose a charge for the work involved in providing access to
the documents in accordance with the Freedom of Information (Charges)
Regulations 2019. We will notify you if your request attracts a charge.
Please note that there is no charge for documents that contain the
personal information of the applicant.

Timeframe

The statutory timeframe to provide you with a decision on your request
ends on 3 September 2025. This period may be extended if we need to
consult with third parties, or for other reasons. We will advise you if
this happens.

Please note that where the due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public
holiday, the timeframe will expire on the next working day. This is in
accordance with the FOI Guidelines issued by the Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner under section 93A of the FOI Act.

Disclosure Log

Documents released under the FOI Act may be published on Defence’s
disclosure log, located on our website.

Contact Details

We will contact you via the email address you have provided. Please advise
if you would prefer us to use an alternative means of contact.

Should you have any questions relating to your request, please do not
hesitate to contact our team via email:
[9][email address].

Kind regards,

Freedom of Information Team

Media and Information Disclosure Branch

Ministerial & Executive Coordination and Communication Division

Department of Defence

[10]Freedom of information requests | About | Defence

IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence.
Unauthorised communication and dealing with the information in the email
may be a serious criminal offence. If you have received this email in
error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the email
immediately.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
2. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-03/s...
3. https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/...
4. https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/che...
5. https://au.news.yahoo.com/defence-force-...
6. https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/9...
7. https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/...
8. http://www.couriermail.com.au%2fnews%2fq...
9. mailto:[email address]
10. https://www.defence.gov.au/about/accessi...