Introducing the Centre

The Australian Government's establishment of the Asia Pacific Civil-Military Centre of Excellence recognises the growing importance of civil-military collaboration and is evidence of Australia's commitment to sustainable peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific and more globally.

Australia has a long and proud record of contributing to peace and stabilisation operations, and to disaster management overseas. The Centre's establishment is recognition of the benefits to be derived from a more integrated national and international civil-military approach to conflict and disaster management.

The Centre is part of the Defence Organisation, but reflects a whole-of-government approach with staffing from a number of departments and agencies. Our initial Strategic Statement outlines important features of our approach to promoting civil-military collaboration to contribute to conflict prevention and sustainable peace within our region and globally. Our strategic plan will be further developed as the Centre matures, commensurate with assigned resources.

Applying a collaborative approach with government agencies, the United Nations and other relevant partners, the Centre will focus on improving civil-military education and training, and developing civil-military doctrine and guiding principles. Through its research program on relevant civil-military issues, the Centre will identify best practice responses to key lessons learned and recommend their application to achieve continuous improvement.

We look forward to working with our partners and stakeholders so that the Centre becomes a recognised and valued resource in achieving effective civil-military outcomes.

Michael G Smith AO

27 November 2008