Employment Training

Graduate, Graduate (Reserve)

All newly commissioned Chaplains are required to complete ADF Chaplaincy training. Your training is tri-Service, meaning that you will complete it alongside Navy and Air Force Chaplains. Attendance on this tri-Service training is important as part of your role and responsibilities could require you, at times, to support the men and women, and their families, of all three Services and across all denominations. You will also form valuable friendships and networks. Both full and part-time Chaplains are required to complete ADF Chaplaincy training.

All employment training is conducted at the Defence Force Chaplains College (DFCC), the home of ADF Chaplaincy Training. Here they deliver three levels of training, initial, intermediate and senior.

The initial level of employment training is required to be completed as soon as possible after your appointment. 

ADF Chaplain Initial Course. The purpose of the Initial Course is to train newly commissioned ADF Chaplains in common core service areas for employment in their respective Services and consists of two modules.

The ADF Chaplain Initial Course - Mod 1 (12 days). This module aims to prepare you for your first appointment and deployment. The training will provide an understanding and a contextualisation of Defence and Chaplaincy processes.

• Full-time Chaplains should attend within the first 12 months of being commissioned as a Chaplain.
• Part-time Chaplains should attend within 24 months of being commissioned as a Chaplain.

The ADF Chaplain Initial Course - Mod 2 (6 days). This module aims to train you to a level where you can confidently support the Defence Mental Health Strategy. It involves training in suicide awareness and post- traumatic stress responses.

• For newly commissioned full-time Chaplains this course should be completed immediately after the Mod 1 Course.
• For newly commissioned part-time Chaplains this course is not completed immediately after the Mod 1 Course, but should be completed as soon after as possible.