Tony Abbott proposes plan for compulsory national service for school leavers

Former prime minister Tony Abbott has proposed a plan for all school leavers to serve a period of national service in a podcast discussing Australia's future in an increasingly militarised world.

Speaking on a the Heartland podcast by the Institute of Public Affairs, the 65-year-old said it was time that Australia "had a conversation" about a program of compulsory service.

The former politician claimed compulsory service would help unite Australians with its government.

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"This is a two-way street," he said.

"It's about giving as well as receiving and I think we do have to talk more about what we can give back to our country."

Abbott said national service could take many forms but should span a "significant time", of at least six to 12 months.

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"There are all sorts of things people could do," he said, explaining "putting on a uniform and becoming a basically-trained infantry solider" is just one example.

Other ideas he tipped was that teens could "go to work in a remote Indigenous community to try and ensure schools have plenty of good role models", deploy as an Australian Peace Corps to the South Pacific, or work in nursing homes.

He added the nation "shouldn't be too dogmatic" about where the national service conversation should go.

There are around 85 countries in the world that have some form of compulsory military service, the UK Forces site says.

Some examples include: Turkey, Cyprus, Israel, Syria, Brazil and the Koreas.

In Australia, military conscription was abolished by law in 1972.

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