Introduction
The mission of the Australian Civil-Military Centre is to support the development of national civil-military capabilities to prevent, prepare for, and respond more effectively to conflicts and disasters overseas. The Centre currently manages six inter-related programs to progress this mission.
The Concepts, Doctrine and Exercises (CDE) program promotes a multiagency approach to civil-military understanding and collaboration for conflict and disaster management. The program supports government departments and agencies. It works with international organisations, non-government organisations, and the tertiary sector to contribute to the development of multiagency civil-military concepts, doctrine and exercises that will lead to the development of national civil-military capabilities. The foundation document for the CDE Program is the Centre’s Conceptual Framework, released in November 2010, titled Strengthening Australia’s Conflict and Disaster Management Overseas. This Conceptual Framework specifies six guiding principles to promote civil-military collaboration, explains a four-track approach to improve multiagency understanding, and identifies three civil-military strategies to be developed and implemented.
Program Objective
The CDE Program is focused on supporting the Centre’s development of whole-of-government civil-military capabilities for conflict and disasters management. The program principally draws upon the outputs of the Centre’s other programs and activities, to ensure that outcomes are progressed, as opposed to conducting discrete activities. This will assist the Centre to target its efforts and its products to meet the specific needs of practioners.
Core Work Areas
The CDE Program, as the name implies, is structured around three core work areas which are described as follows:
- Concepts – The program will identify develop and communicate the general ideas that are important in progressing civil-military capabilities for Australia. The work will be principally informed by the Conceptual Framework, focussed upon developing and implementing multiagency strategies. It will also draw from activities conducted across the Centre, seeking to ensure that the Centre progresses relevant ideas that have been identified through the activities. Civil-Military Concept Papers will be produced.
- Doctrine – The program will translate concepts into robust bodies of knowledge that can be applied in practice. The focus will be to produce a body of teachings in the civil-military knowledge domain which articulate the principles detailed in the Conceptual Framework. This work area will draw upon the work being undertaken within civil-military stakeholder agencies. It will seek to coordinate stakeholder efforts to produce a collective outcome. Civil-Military Doctrine Notes will be produced.
- Exercises – The program will provide the mechanism to test civil-military doctrine and undertake gap analysis to inform future civil-military concept and capability development. A range of activities currently exist that are suitable to be used to progress the development of civil-military concepts and capabilities. In addition to testing doctrine and aiding in gap analysis, this body of work will play a significant role in promoting multiagency understanding. Civil-Military Exercise Reports will be produced.
An overview of the CDE Program is shown in Figure 1. This illustrates the interrelationship between the core work areas.
Figure 1 - CDE Program Overview
Guiding document
The CDE Program is guided by the Conceptual Framework. The document defines the principles by which government agencies will work with each other, lays out ways of understanding issues surrounding whole-of-government interventions and sets out some strategies for enhancing Australia’s civil-military interactions.
Key enabler
The appropriate application of science and technology, utilising the capabilities of the Defence Science and Technology Organisation, can provide a significant increase in capability and capacity across a range of areas. Additionally, science and technology can provide an effective linkage between disparate areas of the civil-military community. Accordingly, fostering the benefits that can be derived through utilising science and technology will be a priority for the CDE Program.
Program Activities, Outcomes and Resources
This document identifies the key activities to be undertaken by the CDE Program, the outcomes to be produced from these activities and the resources required to deliver the outcomes. The program supports the work of the Centre until June 2013. The program will be reviewed on a six monthly basis to align with Centre direction.