Hey so in regards to the ADFA stuff, I have a bit of information.
There at two different pathways if you wish to study at UNSW@Adfa
1. As an officer cadet or 2. as a civilian
If you wish to study as an officer cadet, you need to first apply for an Aeronautical Engineering role in the Navy, Army or Airforce. If you wish to work on helicopters, go navy and army, but anything fixed wing AirForce is the way to go.
Now for the officer path, getting the required ATAR of 85 is the easiest part. ADFA is not a university, it is a military college to train the future leaders of the ADF. As part of the recruitment process, you will take numerous aptitude tests, undertake interviews, medical tests, fitness tests and finally officer selection boards to determine if you have the leadership potential and physical ability to join the armed forces. If you are accepted after all this process, you will receive a letter of offer that is ATAR dependent, so if you recieve the required ATAR you will be starting at ADFA in 2018.
There is a few things to remember and consider with this pathway.
1. Going to ADFA is not going to uni, it is a full time job as an officer in the ADF where you happen to get a degree
2. You will graduate with no HECS debt, and receive a $50000+ salary while you are there, increasing once you graduate
3. You will have to go into the bush, learn to fire a weapon, complete fitness activities daily, wake up at 6am every day, even though you are an engineer. This is because the ADF has an operational readiness capability, this means that even though this is unlikely, if you are in some foreign country, and your base comes under attack and you are outnumbered, you will be expected to take up arms and defend the base.
4. When you sign your letter of offer, you will agree to an Initial Minimum Period of Service, 7 years for an engineer, which begins at the end of your 2nd year at ADFA, meaning if you join in 2018 you won't be able to quit until the end of 2026. This is because they pay for everything for you, textbooks, medical, dental, plus Hecs and a massive salary, they don't want you to quit the day you finish at ADFA. So it will cost nothing to join adfa, infact you will make money, however you will have to pay it back through service.
5. By being accepted into ADFA as an engineer, you have GUARANTEED job as an engineer when you graduate, which is obviously fantastic, however, at what base you are posted to is due to service requirements, so if you want to work at a base in Victoria, but one in the NT needs engineers, you will 100% be moving to the NT. That said, you will be moving often around Australia, so consider the strain it can have on your family
6. You will be deployed overseas. Currently there are around 750 Air force members in the Middle East conducting air strikes against ISIS, many of them engineers to keep the jets running. These deployments last for approx 9 months, however, you will be in no danger as the group in based in a "undisclosed friendly arab country" and only the fighter pilots will be in a direct combat situation.
7. While at ADFA you will also have to undertake millitary classes, such a drill, leadership, navigation ect, so you will not be doing uni work the whole time
8. Leave: You get leave on most weekends, however the only extended leave is around christmas and easter, so you will go home twice a year.
There is many more things to consider with this path, however these are the main things to think about!
Now the civilian pathway is very different, but much simpler
ADFA is a military academy, with a small UNSW campus on it, so you can study there as a civilian. You will not be required to do any military, fitness or other training. You will not get paid, you will pay hecs, you will not get free medical and dental or any other allowances, and you have no role in the ADF. You are in the same situation as a student studying engineering at the UNSW sydney campus. However, the ATAR for civilians is 91, compared to the 85 for officer cadets. So essentially you are a uni student, nothing more.
This went on longer then I expected, but if you have any other questions feel free to PM me!