Calling out the troops : disturbing trends and unanswered questions

Five years have elapsed since the military call-out legislation was passed by the Australian Commonwealth Parliament in September 2000.¹ The anniversary provides a timely opportunity to re-examine the laws, their rationale and their underlying effect. Although the amended call-out powers, contained in Part IIIAAA of the Defence Act 1903 (Cth) (‘the Act’), have not yet been invoked, definite preparations have been made for their application. These include the staging of nine simulation exercises by the end of 2003² and the writing of a classified manual to guide Australian Defence Force (‘ADF’) personnel in conducting operations under Part IIIAAA.³ At the same time, this period has seen substantially increased use of the ADF in civilian settings. This has occurred most notably in repelling refugee boats, in the so-called ‘war on terrorism’ and in deployments in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Solomon Islands. Some of these deployments have been authorised under other specific legislation, such as the Migration, Customs, Border Protection and Fisheries Management Acts; others by executive direction. Thus, despite the nonuse of Part IIIAAA of the Act, a considerable expansion has occurred in the military’s role.