Pre 1914, No 2 Cadet Corps Tunic, 1899

The history of Cadets in Australia is rich and interesting. School cadets have been in existence in Australia for over 150 years. The first unit was established in Australia in 1866, at St Mark's Collegiate School, NSW. This unit subsequently became the King's School Cadet Corps in 1869. Cadets remained under State auspices until 1906 when the Commonwealth Cadet Corps was established. Conscription for part time home service, including service by cadets, was introduced in 1909 and, under the Defence Act of 1903, the Corps was included in the provisions for Universal Military Training.
After 1911 it was compulsory for all male children to take part. Junior Cadets were aged 12 to 14 serving 90 hours annually. Senior Cadets were aged 14 to 18 serving 4 whole days, 12 half days and 21 night drills annually.. Citizen Cadets were aged 18 to 26 serving drill to the equivalent of 16 days of which 8 days must be served in an annual camp. Compulsory training started in 1911 with 92 Cadet Battalions comprised of 922 Companies. Membership totaled 2,285 Officers and 86,899 Senior Cadets. All schools were required to join the scheme. As at December 31, 1913 some 8044 schools were training a total of 55,850 Junior Cadets. As a result of this scheme the strength of the Australian Army rose from 19,880 in 1904 to 48,383 in 1913. At that stage it was anticipated that the Army would number 130,000 by 1920 but World war 1 intervened. Conscription for part-time service was abandoned in 1929.