Inclusive values underpin our success

As a lead-on from last Thursday’s celebration of International Women’s Day, the Australian Air Force Cadets is very pleased to announce that many young women are seeing the value of joining our organisation, with female Cadet members now representing more than 24% of our total Cadets body; and uniformed female Officers and Instructors comprising 27% of our leaders.

This is a remarkable achievement, given that women have only been permitted to join the AIRTC/AAFC since 1982.

While there will always be more work to do and more improvements to be made, we have come a long way since first accepting females into the Air Training Corps.

It is important for us to reflect on our inclusive values, which include leadership, integrity, courage, loyalty and teamwork. These values underpin our success, not only in gender representation, but also people diversity, creating a strong fabric of young citizens of whom Australia can be truly proud.

And beyond the policy dimension and into the practical realm our work continues, including with our Diversity Directorate currently developing ALOFT – Aviation Leaders of Tomorrow, based on the RAAF’s Young Women Camps.

In this program, Air Force Cadets and staff from around the nation will use RAAF Base Richmond as staging point for activities that show the many careers available in both military and civil aviation.

ALOFT will culminate with in the first-ever Trailblazers symposium, featuring keynote speakers from RAAF, Australian Air Force Cadets and general aviation, with a primary focus on women in leadership within the aviation industry.