 Throughout World War I the Australian forces deployed overseas were all volunteers , however , on the home front there was considerable debate about the issue of conscription . Conscription had been a contentious issue ever since Federation and when the AIF was initially raised in 1914 it had been decided that it would be an all @-@ volunteer force due to the provisions of the Defence Act that precluded sending conscripts overseas . Nevertheless , as the war progressed , casualties amongst the deployed forces began to reach alarming rates and as the flow of reinforcements and recruits for the AIF began to drop in 1916 , the issue of conscription rose once more . 
