Who we are
The Australian Civil-Military Centre was established by the Australian Government in 2008 to assist in improving Australia’s civil-military effectiveness for conflict and disaster management overseas.
We work with government departments and agencies and partner with international and non-government organisations, including the United Nations, on issues related to civil-military engagement. Our work helps agencies to develop national capacity to prevent, prepare for and respond to conflicts and disasters overseas.
The Centre operates in a whole-of-government context and is administered by the Department of Defence. The Executive Director operates under a Joint Directive from the Secretary and the Chief of the Defence Force. The Deputy Director is provided by the New Zealand Government. Our staff are drawn from Defence, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Attorney-General’s Department, the Australian Agency for International Development, the Australian Federal Police, and the Australian Council for International Development (Australia’s peak non-government aid organisation). These agencies are our key stakeholders. We have flexibility to engage Defence Reservists and contractors for specific tasks.
What we do
We work to fulfil the role and responsibilities assigned to us by Government (refer Annex A). Our mission is to support the development of national civil-military capabilities to prevent, prepare for, and respond more effectively to conflicts and disasters overseas.
Our strategic objective is to assist our stakeholders to improve civil-military effectiveness in conflict and disaster management.
Through education, training and research, our strategy is to identify and help develop civil-military capabilities, foster skills development, enhance mechanisms for civil-military interactions, generate and share knowledge, and develop interlinked partnership networks.
How we do it
Our business model is designed to ensure that tasks, resources and outcomes are matched and managed as shown below.
Our Key Result Areas (KRAs) determine our priorities and activities. The KRAs are derived from our mission and strategic objective, and are the basis of specific deliverables. They are:
- KRA 1: Assist in the development of national civil-military capabilities through education, training, research, concepts, doctrine and exercises.
- KRA2: Support cohesive civil-military effectiveness and provide advice to stakeholders to enhance performance in conflict and disaster management overseas.
- KRA3: Strengthen national, regional and international engagement in civil-military affairs related to conflict and disaster management.
Our business plan details the processes for determining our budget and annual program of activities, in line with the KRAs. It describes arrangements for stakeholder engagement, our communications strategy, and our performance measurement and reporting framework.
Our annual program of activities reflects the needs of our key stakeholders and benefits our key international partners.
Within assigned resources, our organisational structure is flexible to deliver the Centre’s work priorities. Our programs are cross-cutting. As priorities change, so too does our structure adapt to make best use of our subject matter expertise. Our programs are described and updated on our website. We recognise that we need to be flexible in order to meet the expectations of stakeholders in a constrained resource environment.
We report our progress
As detailed in our communications strategy, we inform our stakeholders and international partners of what we are doing and the products of our work. We welcome and encourage feedback on our work. We utilise a number of mechanisms to promote our work as transparently as possible:
- regular multiagency stakeholder meetings at different levels;
- a weekly situation report to key stakeholders;
- a regular e-newsletter to stakeholders, international partners and subscribers;
- circulation of published reports;
- optimum use of social media through online communications;
- an annual review; and
- reports to the Minister and Parliament as required.
We measure our performance
Our business plans are developed annually and reviewed quarterly to ensure activities reflect changing priorities and make efficient use of resources. We validate each of our activities against our mission, strategic objective and our KRAs. Activities will be measured against performance indicators.
We develop our people
Our people bring invaluable subject matter expertise from their parent organisations as well as from their own experience. We value these diverse civil-military cultures and promote multiagency respect, dialogue and professional development. We require our people to contribute their best, but we want them to leave having gained knowledge and experience to benefit their career progression. Our staff are our advocates when they depart, and within available resources, we provide opportunities for their professional development on civil-military courses at home and abroad.
We recognise our challenges
The Centre was created to enhance multiagency effectiveness for conflict and disaster management. We are committed to working with our stakeholders and international partners. We know that our credibility depends on the excellence of our education, training and research products; on the quality of our assistance in developing civil-military concepts and doctrine; on the relevance of our support to civil-military exercises; and on delivering outcomes over the long term.
Our key challenges include:
- balancing and shaping demand for Centre activities within available resources;
- promoting and maintaining stakeholder involvement in the creation, delivery and review of the Centre’s activities;
- creating a workforce skilled in civil-military engagement and knowledgeable about contemporary civil-military issues;
- developing linkages, networks and methods of communication – locally, regionally and globally; and
- building mechanisms for knowledge generation and sharing.
Our plan on a page
Review and Update
This plan will be reviewed annually. It will be updated as required following the Government’s determination of the recommendations of the ‘Farmer Review’.
Annex A - Role and Responsibilities as approved by Government
Role
The Centre’s mission is to support the development of national civil-military capabilities to prevent, prepare for and respond more effectively to conflicts and disasters overseas.
Responsibilities and Priorities
Through the Chief of the Defence Force and the Secretary of the Department of Defence, the Centre will assist relevant departments and agencies by:
- Contributing to the development of a conceptual framework for civil-military collaboration in conflict and disaster management overseas
- Carrying out research, capturing lessons learned, developing doctrine and facilitating training programs that contribute directly to the ability of the Australian Government to develop an effective civil-military capacity for conflict prevention and disaster management overseas;
- Working with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and other agencies to develop cooperative relationships with key Australian and international organisations (including relevant UN agencies, international peacekeeping centres, tertiary institutions, non-government organisations and the commercial sector ) so as to further best practice on civil-military issues;
- Advising agencies on civil-military matters relating to:
- the development of integrated capabilities to achieve a coherent, whole-of-government strategy for peace and stabilisation operations; and
- transitioning between the military and civilian phases of operations;
- In the longer term, developing civil-military training to improve regional capacity for conflict and disaster management.