News

While States’ obligations to protect civilians in times of conflict are clear, what happens when a non-state armed group is the de-facto authority? ACMC hosted senior visitors from advocacy group Geneva Call to explore this challenging issue.

The Australian Civil Military Centre (ACMC) has released a research publication providing operational guidance to strengthen civil-military coordination in preparing for and responding to a future pandemic or public health emergency – domestically or overseas. In preparing this document, ACMC engaged stakeholders from Australia, North America, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Pacific on their experiences in civil-military coordination during public health emergencies.

On Tuesday 24 Sept 2024, senior representatives from Austria, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States, convened virtually for a meeting of the International Contact Group on Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response.

The Australian Civil Military Centre is hosting a three day lessons management symposium which includes a focus on how Artificial Intelligence might improve learning before, during and after from crises. Chief of Joint Operations, Vice Admiral (VADM) Justin Jones officially opened the symposium, which features 100 representatives from Defence, Australian Government agencies, jurisdictional emergency management organisations, the United States and New Zealand authorities and NGOs.

On 23 September 2024, ICRC and ACMC hosted a panel discussion on how to protect civilians at sea during times of conflict. ACMC Executive Directive Nicola Rosenblum moderated the panel, which included ACMC Deputy Executive Director and former Chief of the Royal New Zealand Navy, Rear Admiral (rtd) David Proctor, ICRC Regional Maritime Legal Adviser Andre Smit and ICRC Regional Delegate to the Armed Forces, Snowy Lintern.

The Australian Civil Military Centre (ACMC), the Philippines Office of Civil Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines conducted a three-day disaster relief table top exercise in Manila on 10-12 September.

ACMC has hosted a visit by the Centre for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance (CFE DMHA) Director Joseph D. Martin, which focussed on enhancing our already strong relationship.

ACMC has worked with Tuvaluan authorities and Australian and New Zealand stakeholders to further build Tuvalu capacity to prepare for and respond to natural disasters. Tuvalu is particularly at risk from tropical cyclones and associated storm surges and flooding. In recent years, the Pacific Island nation has been impacted by inundation from king/spring tides (Feb 2024), Cyclone Tino (2020) and Cyclone Pam (2015).

The increasing scale and frequency of disasters in Australia and our region requires strengthened multi-agency capability to learn from operational experience and embed lessons in future responses.