The  Defence White Paper 2016  challenges us all, specifically the Australian Army, to innovate and to integrate reform into our core business processes in the face of a more complex future strategic environment. How do we respond to the White Paper’s challenge and how can the Army fulfil the exacting innovation requirements articulated in its pages? The logical starting point for this discussion is to create a common understanding of the term ‘innovation’. From this understanding we can examine two ideas …

As the summer holidays approach, full of the promise of reading (or listening) time, it is worth looking at some of the books, articles, and other writings that have inspired members of the Australian Army Research Centre (AARC) over the last year.  There are other resources out there, with no end of professional reading lists to choose from, including from the AARC: a littoral focused list from earlier this year, and the 2019 Army reading list . A new Army Reading List is being developed and will be …

  The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has been traditionally been viewed as a predominantly military institution focused on conventional warfighting. However, over the past few decades, this perception has broadened significantly. The ADF's remit now includes a variety of non-military tasks, such as disaster relief and support during public health emergencies. These activities have highlighted the inadequacies in our existing legal and policy frameworks, particularly the ambiguous term "domestic violence" …

The Applied History of Domestic Operations Abstract How the military is employed domestically is shaped by anxiety: anxiety that fuels growth, and anxiety that constrains it. It is an area of war studies that uniquely impacts the citizens of a country, in a way that external military operations often do not. It is a particularly emotive area where policy and operations fail to apply historical lessons. This occasional paper seeks to provide the first definitive study of domestic operations in Australia …

Editorial Land Warfare Studies Centre Engaging in Debate This is the first edition of the Australian Army Journal (AAJ)  under a new managerial team, and it is only appropriate that the efforts of Lieutenant Colonel Mal McGregor and his team are given due recognition. Without his efforts (and those of his editorial team) it is questionable whether the journal would have survived, and the fact that it continues today is testimony to his hard work, perseverance and guidance. The new team has been given the …

The Chief of Army Essay Competition The Chauvel Essay Prize, 2025 From 2025, the Australian Army Research Centre (AARC) will administer an annual Chief of Army Essay Competition. The competition aims to encourage writing on all aspects of land warfare and joint military operations. The winner will be awarded the Chauvel Prize, named in honour of General Sir Henry George (Harry) Chauvel, GCMG, KCB, a former Chief of the General Staff and the first Australian to reach the rank of General.  The theme of the …

  Reflecting on recently introduced ADF-wide policy on respite, author Phillip Hoglin identifies areas for further improvement in Occasional Paper 21, Respite Periods in the ADF . He outlines factors that contribute to enduring challenges to the achievement of consistent respite policy, with reference to both Australian and overseas experience. Hoglin identifies a spectrum of applied and academic approaches to address these issues and, based on his analysis, provides several workable options for …

Programs …

Michael Evans is the General Sir Francis Hassett Chair of Military Studies at the Australian Defence College and a Professor in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Deakin University in Victoria. He is a former Head of the Australian Army’s Land Warfare Studies Centre at the Royal Military College, Duntroon. He has held fellowships at King’s College London and at the universities of York, Cape Town and New South Wales and is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the New Zealand Defence Force Command and …

This paper argues that, despite being the world’s largest island, the greatest paradox of Australia’s existence is that the country lacks a maritime consciousness to guide defence policy. National development has been marked by several historical characteristics which have created an ingrained culture of sea-blindness. These include a long tradition of maritime dependence on great powers; the growth of a martial cult centred on Anzac; a schism between continental and expeditionary approaches in strategic …