Australia to put women on war frontline

For the first time, women will be offered forward combat roles in the Australian Defence Force, reports the Australian newspaper.

While a vast majority of military jobs are currently open to women in Australia, female soldiers have never been allowed to serve in more dangerous positions like with the special forces, as well as with infantry and armored units, the Australian reports.

The news that Defence Minister Stephen Smith has decided to push through this change in military policy comes on the heels of a sex scandal rocking Australia's military academy.

Australia currently has military units deployed throughout the world, but its most dangerous commitment is still in Afghanistan, where more than 1,500 of its troops are currently deployed, some in active combat roles.

Australia now joins Canada, New Zealand and Israel as the only nations which allow women to fight on the frontlines of war in their armies. Among those nations, Israel has long been held up as an example for its egalitarian approach to national defense.

Women have for some time been allowed to serve in roles in the U.S. military that occasionally see combat, but are not allowed into forward infantry, armored and similar divisions.

A recent poll suggests that two-thirds of all American voters favor allowing women "to serve in ground units that engage in close combat" with 29 percent opposed, Agence France Presse reports. Among voters 18 to 34 years old, the poll showed support for lifting the ban at 81 percent, while Americans over the age of 55 backed the change 55-38 percent.