The Royal Australian Army Chaplains' Department (RAAChD) is an all-officer corps of the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

that provides

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

to minister to the personnel of the Australian Army. RAAChD chaplains belong to either one of several

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

churches, or to the

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

faith. As of 2012, there are 67 serving regular

chaplains A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intelligence ...

(commonly known as 'padres') in the Australian Army. There are also 83 chaplains in the

Australian Army Reserve The Australian Army Reserve is a collective name given to the reserve units of the Australian Army. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, the reserve military force has been known by many names, including the Citizens Forces, the Citizen ...

. The Department was granted the privilege of the prefix 'Royal' by King

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...

along with a number of other Australian Army corps in December 1948 in recognition of their service during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Before that, the Department was titled the Australian Army Chaplains' Department.

Noncombatant status

Uniforms and insignia

The Royal Australian Army Chaplains' Department has two

cap badge A cap badge, also known as head badge or hat badge, is a badge worn on uniform headgear and distinguishes the wearer's nationality and/or organisation. The wearing of cap badges is a convention commonly found among military and police forces, as w ...

s, one for its Christian chaplains that features a

Maltese cross The Maltese cross is a cross symbol, consisting of four " V" or arrowhead shaped concave quadrilaterals converging at a central vertex at right angles, two tips pointing outward symmetrically. It is a heraldic cross variant which developed f ...

, and another for Jewish chaplains that features a

Star of David The Star of David (). is a generally recognized symbol of both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the ''seal of Solomon'', which was used for decorative ...

. Whatever unit a chaplain is assigned to they continue to wear a RAAChD cap badge. Chaplains are permitted to wear their assigned unit's

beret A beret ( or ; ; eu, txapela, ) is a soft, round, flat-crowned cap, usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre. Mass production of berets began in 19th century France and Spain, and the beret remains ...

if one is worn, but with the RAAChD cap badge. Christian chaplains wear a cross on the shirt collars and lapels of their uniforms; Jewish chaplains wear a Star of David instead. These insignia are of gold-coloured metal on all uniform orders except

Australian Multicam Camouflage Uniform The Australian Multicam Camouflage Uniform (AMCU) is the combat uniform camouflage pattern for the Australian Defence Force, general issued from 2014 onwards. The AMCU is replacing the previously used Disruptive Pattern Camouflage Uniform (DPC ...

(AMCU). On the latter, these insignia are embroidered in black cotton. Principal Chaplains and Chaplains Division 4 wear gorget patches (of a Brigadier or Colonel respectively) in purple (instead of red) in place of the metal insignia on their collars and lapels, but wear the same cloth insignia as worn by other chaplains on AMCU uniforms. When wearing service dress, the utility jacket or 'polyesters' (shirt-sleeve order), RAAChD chaplains wear a purple lanyard over their right shoulder instead of their assigned unit's lanyard. Army chaplains, although they are all commissioned officers of the Australian Army and wear uniform, do not carry arms. They are the only officers not to carry swords on parade. Chaplains are permitted to wear a

clerical collar A clerical collar, clergy collar, or, informally, dog collar, is an item of Christian clerical clothing. The clerical collar is almost always white and was originally made of cotton or linen but is now frequently made of plastic. There are vario ...

and black stock under the service, utility or mess jackets, and some are given permission to wear one with General Duty AMCU dress. At services on formal occasions, chaplains wear their medals and decorations on their clerical robes. In November 2015, the media reported a change to the Royal Australian Army Chaplains' Department's badge. This reporting was misleading: a change to the corps' badge is not a matter the Chief of the Army is currently considering.

Ranks

All Australian Army chaplains have the title 'Chaplain' (CHAP) or 'Principal Chaplain' (PRINCHAP) instead of a rank title even though they wear rank insignia. They are addressed as 'Chaplain' or, more frequently, 'Padre' instead of the title of the rank insignia which they wear. Chaplains usually discourage more junior ranks from addressing them as 'Sir'/'Ma'am'. In addition to these titles, chaplains are graded into five Divisions. Newly commissioned chaplains are in Division 1 (CHAP1); Principal Chaplains are in Division 5. The rank insignia worn by chaplains, indicating an equivalent rank, is based on their Division according to the table below. The system of five Divisions is also used across the

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Forc ...

by chaplains of the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

and the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

. While the latter wear RAAF rank insignia in a similar way to Army chaplains, RAN chaplains do not wear rank insignia.

Principal Chaplains

The Royal Australian Army Chaplains' Department has three Principal Chaplains (PRINCHAP) representing the three major Christian denominations —

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

, and nonconformist

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

— and the

faith. The Principal Chaplains of the Army wear the rank of

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

. One of the three Principal Chaplains is employed as the full-time Director General of Chaplaincy — Army (DGCHAP-A), the head of the Department. The Catholic Principal Chaplain is an episcopal vicar of the Catholic Diocese of the Australian Military Services and is nominated to be made a

Chaplain of His Holiness A Chaplain of His Holiness is a priest to whom the Pope has granted this title. They are addressed as Monsignor and have certain privileges with respect to ecclesiastical dress and vestments.Monsignor Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...

). The Anglican Principal Chaplain is appointed to the position of

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

of the Army (with the style

Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cathol ...

Heads of Denominations

In the

(ADF), the heads of military chaplaincy for those Christian denominations and of the Jewish faith that have an official association with the ADF, are also members of the ADF's Religious Advisory Committee to the Services (RACS). With respect to the Catholic and Anglican churches, their bishops (the Bishop of the Catholic Military Ordinariate and the Anglican Bishop to the ADF) are members of RACS and they and the other members of RACS have the rank equivalence of a

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

but do not wear uniforms. The current chairman of the RACS is Rev Prof

Allan Harman Allan Macdonald Harman, (born 7 June 1936)Douglas J. W. Milne (ed.), ''Israel and the Church: Essays in Honour of Allan Macdonald Harman'' (2001). is an Australian Presbyterian theologian and Old Testament scholar. He has been described as a "w ...

.Board of Directors of the World Reformed Fellowship

Order of precedence

References

External links

* * * {{Australian Army Arms

Chaplains A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intelligence ...

Australian army units with royal patronage * Australia Military history of Australia Religion in Australia