UPDATE | The 2022 ADF Family Survey will now close on 24 July 2022.

Families play a critical role in the wellbeing of Australian Defence Force (ADF) members, and often make sacrifices to support Defence service. The ADF Families Survey is the primary Australian survey capturing information about experiences of service life directly from families of Defence personnel. The survey is a joint initiative of the Department of Defence and Defence Families of Australia. It has been run five times since 2009.

The survey provides insight into the impact of ADF conditions of service on family members’ satisfaction with service life. It also measures family members’ satisfaction with family support services so that Defence can identify areas for targeted improvement.

Results from the 2019 ADF Families Survey showed that ADF families were less satisfied than the average Australian across multiple wellbeing domains. This information prompted development of the Defence Family Research Program, which provides an evidence base for continued support improvement through Family Support Program Modernisation.

The Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) have been commissioned to implement the survey in 2022. Similar to previous surveys, the 2022 survey will collect information on family circumstances and experiences of service life, and support and service needs. This year there will also be a specific focus on measuring family member well-being and understanding the impact of COVID-19 on ADF families.

In 2022, the ADF Families Survey is open from 30 May to 24 July 2022. You are invited to complete the survey, if:

 Your partner is a permanent ADF member or reserve ADF member on continuous full-time service, or
 You are an ADF member who is part of a dual serving couple, a single parent, or carer of other dependants.

Insights from the survey will be shared with stakeholders and through a range of Defence and family forums. They will provide an evidence base to inform the design and delivery of policies, programs and services for military families.
This research is approved by the Departments of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs Human Research Ethics Committee (Protocol No 425-22).

Learn more about previous surveys
The most recent survey in the series ran in 2019. Research findings from previous surveys are available on the Defence website.

More information
For more information, contact the research team at Australian Institute of Family Studies (adffs@aifs.gov.au) or Department of Defence (DPI.Research@defence.gov.au).