World War I conscription in Australia During the second half of World War I , the First Australian Imperial Force experienced a shortage of soldiers as the number of men volunteering to fight overseas declined and the casualty rate increased . At the time , military service within the Commonwealth of Australia and its territories was compulsory for Australian men , but that requirement did not extend to conflict outside of Australia . In 1916 , Prime Minister Billy Hughes called a plebiscite to determine public support for extending conscription to include military service outside the Commonwealth for the duration of the war . The referendum , held on 28 October 1916 , narrowly rejected the proposal . A second plebiscite , held a year later on 20 December 1917 , also failed ( by a slightly larger margin ) to gain a majority . The referenda caused significant debate and division in Australian society , and within the government . Hughes called the first referendum against the advice of his own Labor government , which led to the Labor party splitting , with Hughes and others forming a new National Labor Party . The Conscription Debate . On 1 January 1911 , the Commonwealth Defence Act 1911 ( Cth ) was passed . This meant that that all males aged 12 to 26 years of age would receive compulsory military training . This , however , did not force them to participate in the war itself when the time came . The actual conscription debate began in 1916 when Prime Minister Billy Hughes visited the war front himself . On his return to Australia , he then voiced his thoughts of conscription as his view was that Australia needed more soldiers . Due to this during 1916 and 1917 a referendum was held to discuss the matters and hand it over to the public . Although three states voted " yes " and three " no " , the majority of the population was against the amendment of the original law . This was duly rejected , if only by a small margin of 72 476 votes . As a result , recruiting was stronger than ever and intensified campaigns were popping up in every city . Some of the arguments against conscription were that enough lives had been lost and that farmers need more men to work the land for food . There were two things needed for the war more than anything : men and money . The role of women . One the primary roles of women in conscription was in the recruiting and campaigns . They would often be on posters or in the posts . They would be positioned during this time as vulnerable , perhaps with children , and be made out to be weak , and therefore in need of protection . One quote from one photos even recounts , ' Any right — minded woman would rather be a mother or sister of a dead hero than of a living shirker . ' Women during World War I were also a huge pacifist movement often going through great deals to hold out for peace . Once again , they portrayed themselves as wives , sisters , sweethearts or mothers . Women often did less dangerous jobs that needed to be done for instance visiting and healing wounded soldiers . Often , they would hold small or confectionery sales , such as sold buttons on button days , rattled collection boxes on collection days , organised fetes , baked cakes , put together ' comfort parcels ' and , above all they knitted . Quite a few women looked to take a greater part in the more war related activities . This included cooking , stretcher bearing , drivers , interpreters and munitions workers . However the government did not allow it . The referendum process . Prime Minister Billy Hughes hosted a referendum on 28 October 1916 . His campaign for conscription was supported by the major newspaper companies and other media . It was also supported by most of the Commonwealth Liberal Party including the Liberal state premiers , by the major Protestant churches and the Universal Service League , which had many prominent Australians as members . The result was that there were 1 , 087 , 557 votes in favour and 1 , 160 , 033 in opposition . The failed referendum led to Prime Minister Billy Hughes losing his seat in the Australian Labor Party . Daniel Mannix . Daniel Patrick Mannix ( 4 March 1864 – 2 November 1963 ) , Irish - born Australian Catholic clergyman . This cardinal was one of Australia ' s biggest influences in the 20th century . He was extremely passionate about what he thought . During World War I he stated that it was all " just a sordid trade war " , for this he was denounced and even categorised as a traitor . He was one of the people who campaigned against Prime Minister Hughes when his referendum for conscription failed . He went through with his argument religiously and when the Labor Party split he participated in supporting the Catholic side of the anti - conscription debate . Through this he encouraged the political endeavours of James Scullin , Frank Brennan , Joseph Lyons and , later , Arthur Calwell . Mannix was a very moral man and keen for the laws of the church and the power they held . William Hughes . Hughes was the Prime Minister in seat at the time of World War I 1916 . In 1917 he visited the war front . Hughes was a strong supporter of establishing Australia as a strong and significant country and therefore thought that Australia ' s participation in World War I was mandatory . In between the dates of July and August 1916 , there was a loss of 28 , 000 men and Generals Birdwood and White of the Australian Imperial Forces impressed upon Hughes that conscription was needed for Australia to continue impacting the war sufficiently . At this time , Hughes was the leader of the Labor Party . When he proposed the idea for conscription two thirds of his party disagreed with his views . Hughes , however , knew that he did not need to create a new law but could just amend the old one to include conscription . As a result , on 28 October 1916 , an advisory referendum was held to decide whether the community of Australia supported conscription . The vote was rejected and Hughes was sacked from the Labor Party . Hughes acted quickly to take his supporters in parliament and form the National Labor Party at the end of 1916 . This enabled him to briefly form a government with the support of the Deakinite Liberal opposition . Early in 1917 , the two then merged into the Nationalist Party of Australia and won the May election , with Hughes pledging to resign if again defeated at the plebiscite in December that year . The question was defeated by a yet greater margin this time and Hughes did resign , only to be reinstated as PM by the Governor General .