Staff at the elite Duntroon Royal Military College have been sacked after testing positive for steroid use and MDMA, it can be revealed, as the Defence Department embarks upon a new drug testing regime.
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The figures, released by the Defence Department under freedom of information laws, also show there were no positive drug tests recorded at the college between 2011 and 2014.
The Duntroon Royal Military College is an elite Canberra establishment that trains a select group of promising Army cadets.
In February 2015, one Duntroon staff member was discharged from the Defence Force for testing positive to steroid use.
Another was stood down in January 2016 for testing positive to the party drug MDMA, also known as ecstasy.
As of 19 July, there have been no positive tests in 2017.
Duntroon's results stand in stark contrast to the Army base in Townsville, where almost 80 staff have been discharged for drug use since 2012.
The Defence Department has just begun an expanded testing program, which utilises hair and saliva samples to broaden the detection window for illicit drugs.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Defence said at least 25 per cent of personnel were tested for drugs every year.
At Duntroon this would include both staff members and cadets, she added.
"The use of prohibited substances is not compatible with an effective and efficient ADF and has the capacity to undermine safety, discipline, morale, security and reputation.
"All ADF personnel are subject to the prohibited substance testing program, which allows for testing of ADF members anywhere and any time."
Defence's prohibited substance testing program, introduced in 2005, typically relies upon urine testing to detect drugs such as cannabis, methamphetamine, MDMA and cocaine.
Hair and saliva testing will be trialled between October 1, 2017 and July 31, 2018 because these allow drug use to be detected over a window of up to three months.
Tests are conducted on both a random basis, and on a targeted basis where there is information to suggest an employee has been using drugs.
Since testing began in 2005 more than 1100 Defence Force employees have been discharged due to drug use.
"Defence consistently returns a less than 0.6 per cent positive test result, which is significantly lower than the rate within the Australian community as shown in the 2016 National Drug Strategy Household Survey," the spokeswoman added.
Navy Vice Admiral Ray Griggs said the Defence Force would assess the trial's impact before deciding whether to continue with hair and saliva testing.
"Members may be tested more than once by more than one method," he told the Navy News.
"The trial will provide the ADF with an ability to decide on the efficacy of hair and saliva testing as additional methods available to the services for routine use of testing for prohibited substances."
