Australian Defence Force Operations

Abstract

The Australian Defence Force continues to remain engaged in a range of operations from the Middle East to the Pacific. This paper will give an overview of ADF operations for the period between July 2008 and October 2009 and mention some of the salient legal issues arising from these operations. At the time of writing there are approximately 3300 ADF personnel deployed overseas on operations with a further 500 involved in domestic maritime security operations. This represents a slight decrease from the 3850 deployed overseas at the time of writing the 2008 edition of the review of ADF operations. This is primarily due to the decrease in troop numbers in Iraq from 1575 to 823 following the expiry of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1790 on 31 December 2008 which authorised much of the operation.4 However, there are 1550 ADF personnel in Afghanistan; up from 1000 last year. Operation SLIPPER has expanded to incorporate anti-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia as well. There have also been a number of disaster relief operations in response to the Victorian bushfires and the earthquakes and tsunamis in Samoa and Indonesia. Some other operations have concluded since the last edition of this review. These are Operation TESTAMENT, in support of World Youth Day, and Operation OUTREACH, the Northern Territory Indigenous Intervention. Domestic security generally, and the ADF's own base security in particular, have increased in prominence following the disruption by police on 4 August 2009 of an alleged plot to attack Holsworthy Army Base.