Defence Section Canberra

Welcome to the Defence Section pages

For information on recruitment for the UK armed forces, obtaining campaign medals, war disablement and war widow pensions, historical information and records, click on the appropriate button on the toolbar to the left.

These pages also contain information on the bilateral defence relationship, as well as information about the British Defence Staff in Australia.

What are the defence relationships between the UK and Australia?

In the words of the Australian Department of Defence, Australia’s long standing defence relationship with the UK "remains a valuable strategic asset".

This reflects Britain’s strengths in many areas of defence technology: a substantial defence industry and research and development capability; active and effective intelligence collection; and the quality of military training.

Defence relationships date back over a century with combined participation in conflicts and peacekeeping operations, which has spawned close and extensive co-operation between our defence organisations and forces.

Until recently, RAN and RAAF officers carried out part of their initial training at Darmouth/Cranwell in the UK. There is still a considerable annual bilateral exchange of military personnel from both countries attending advanced courses in warfare and staff duties in each others country.

British Services personnel train in Australia and the SE Asia region with regular participation in the following activities:

• Participation in the Five Power Defence Agreement (FPDA) exercises.
• Participation in the Australia, Britain, Canada and America (ABCA) exercises and working group meetings.
• EX LONG LOOK. An annual exchange of some 120 tri-Service personnel on a 4 month work experience exercise.
• Unilateral tri-Service exercises and adventure training activities.
• Ships visits.
• British Service military bands frequently perform at state tattoo’s and other activities.

The Defence Section of the British High Commission, Canberra consists of

• British Defence Liaison Staff  (BDLS)
• British Defence Research and Support Staff (BDRSS)
• Defence Export Service Organisation (DESO)