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In addition to domestic security and border protection roles, Defence also plays an integral part in Australian humanitarian efforts. Building on shared capabilities laid out in the 2009 White Paper, the ADF has since helped out in Indonesia, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Haiti – as well as more recent efforts to curb the bushfires.
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The rationale for deploying the ADF in this capacity, as explained in the 2009 White Paper, is that "the ADF possesses a range of specialised capabilities on a scale and of a kind available from no other Australian agency". Accordingly, Defence has come to view humanitarian operations as a core aspect of its overall operation, and forces are trained on an ongoing basis to co-ordinate responses integrated with other civilian bodies.
An important part of Australia's soft power in the region, since 2009 we have looked to assist our Indo-Pacific neighbours in the wake of natural disasters the area is all too prone to. In co-ordination with AusAID, the ADF has providing resources and logistics support after tsunamis, earthquakes, cyclones and floods.
Operations have also stretched further, with the RAAF providing aid via two C-17A Globemaster following a devastating earthquake in Nepal. Between 29 April and 3 May, 154,455 kilograms of cargo and 322 passengers were transported – including an Air Force Aero-Medical Evacuation team, specialist Defence logistic staff and Australian and foreign national evacuees.
While the ADF provided assistance in the wake of the Victorian bushfires in 2008, the most recent series proved the first true testing ground for the ADF's humanitarian capabilities on the home front. All told, Bushfire Assist saw some 200 ADF personnel, including about 100 reservists, spread throughout Australia – conducting a range of activities from logistics through to complex engineering (at the Buchan military modular bridges).
These numbers upped again in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, with over 2,200 Defence members supporting the whole-of-government response to the pandemic–often assuming various quarantine and border control responsibilities, for the first time.
