Australian Army Cadets

The Australian Army Cadets (AAC) is the youth military program and organisation of the Australian Army, tasked with supporting participants to contribute to society, fostering interest in defence force careers, and developing support for the forces. The program has more than 19,000 army cadets between the ages of 12 and 20 based in more than 250 units around Australia. The values of the AAC are "Service, Courage, Respect, Integrity and Excellence".

The cadet program has strong links to the Australian Army and is a part of the Australian Defence Force Cadets. However, its members are not members of the Australian Defence Force by virtue only of their membership of the AAC. The AAC is a youth development program building resilience^{[clarification needed]} in young Australians from all backgrounds.^{[citation needed]}

Activities of the AAC include but are not limited to drill and ceremonial parade, abseiling, seamanship, navigation, field camping and first aid.

The Australian Army Cadets are headquartered at Brindabella Business Park in Canberra. There are also regional headquarters which are directly in command of Army Cadet Brigades/Battalions.

The Australian Army Cadets is authorised under Section 62 of the Defence Act 1903 with lawful policies provided in the Cadet Forces Regulations 2013 (originally authorised under Cadet Forces Regulations 1977). The Australian Army Cadets is a youth organisation that is modelled on the Australian Army. It differs from Scouts Australia and other youth exploration groups as its main focus is that of learning and using military and leadership skills. The organisation boasts a nationwide reach with cadet units in every state and territory in Australia.

Youth must be at least 12 years of age, and not have reached age 17 to be eligible to apply for enrolment into the AAC. Once enrolled, they may remain as a cadet until the last day of the year they reach age 18. Age extensions exist for some positions (Battalion, Regional, National) to the age of 19, but this is a very rare occurrence. A cadet in the AAC is not considered to be a member of the Australian Defence Force, nor are cadets allowed to be a member of the Defence Force or any other cadet service during their time as a cadet.

Research studies have shown that cadets have performed better than non-cadets in Australian Defence Force Training, and 25.4% of the Australian Defence Force has been in the Australian Defence Force Cadets. From 2001 to 2005, cadets made up 10% of applications and 11% of total Australian Defence Force enlistments.

The King's School and Newington College vie for the honour of having the oldest Cadet Corps in Australia. An embryonic corps was founded by Newington College when a drill master was appointed to staff in 1865. Two years later, a sergeant-major was appointed, muskets and carbines were purchased, and an armoury and gunpowder store were opened at Newington College. The first official unit in Australia was established on 29 March 1866 at St Mark's Collegiate School by Reverend Macarthur. In June 1868, the King's School had closed and did not reopen until January 1869, when it was amalgamated with the St Mark's unit. The unit was renamed the King's School Cadets Corps. In 1869, the Newington College Cadet Corps was formally incorporated by the Governor of New South Wales (Somerset Lowry-Corry, 4th Earl Belmore), and is now believed to be the second oldest continually running corps in Australia, after The King's School Cadet Corps. The first regional unit, and third oldest continually running corps in the country, was established in September 1898 by The Armidale School. With the establishment of many cadet units and corps at numerous boys' schools throughout the Commonwealth, His Majesty King Edward VII established the Commonwealth Cadet Corps in Australia on 16 July 1906.