Exercise Austral Shield brought together Australian Defence Force personnel, government agencies and security partners in a continent-wide rehearsal for the defence of Australia.
Conducted every two years under Joint Task Force 629 (JTF629), the exercise tests Defence’s ability to protect critical infrastructure, respond to homeland security contingencies and integrate with the agencies and communities that would be involved in a domestic operation.
Chief of Joint Operations Vice Admiral Justin Jones said Austral Shield was a practical exercise that allowed Defence to validate plans developed through strategic-level command post training.
“Annually, Headquarters Joint Operations Command conducts a major command post exercise with elements focused on contingency planning and homeland security,” Vice Admiral Jones said.
“What we learn out of those command post exercises is arguably theoretical, so we use exercises like Austral Shield to actually test, trial and rehearse the vignettes that we gain from those command-post exercises.”
Focused on the protection of critical infrastructure and Defence establishments, Austral Shield was conducted around Weipa and Gladstone in North Queensland, and the Fleet Base West-Garden Island precinct in Perth.
The locations were selected to provide realistic environments for rehearsing the protection of critical infrastructure and key Defence establishments.
Scenarios included emerging security challenges such as counter-uncrewed aerial systems, while also testing Defence’s ability to coordinate and sustain operations across Australia’s vast geography.
“Austral Shield is a continental-sized activity,” Vice Admiral Jones said.
“It tells the citizens of Australia that we take our remit to protect them and Australia’s interests extremely seriously, and this is rehearsal for that mission.”
Director General Joint Collective Training, Commodore Phillipa Hay, said the exercise’s success relied on bringing together the organisations that would be expected to work side-by-side during a real-world homeland security response.
‘It tells the citizens of Australia that we take our remit to protect them and Australia’s interests extremely seriously, and this is rehearsal for that mission.’
“Under JTF629, whose motto is ‘to protect community and country’, we deploy our people around the nation in order to integrate and train for the defence of the homeland,” Commodore Hay said.
“Exercise Austral Shield provides an opportunity to bring together the ADF, the police and other security and emergency services so that we can integrate and cooperate successfully when the call out comes.”
Building relationships with communities was a key component of the exercise.
Community engagement activities brought together Defence personnel, local leaders, industry representatives, traditional owners and residents, helping build the relationships that enable training and future operations.
“Exercises such as Austral Shield cannot be done without the support of local communities,” Commodore Hay said.
“In Weipa, for instance, we were welcomed by the community, had the full support of the traditional owners, and the local residents.”
“We are exceptionally grateful for their support, and look forward to ongoing engagement.”
