30 July 2024
Director of Exercise Austral Shield 2024 Brigadier Damian Hill invited Comcare personnel to exercise control headquarters at HMAS Harman to see first-hand Defence planning and safety processes in practice.
Brigadier Hill said the Australian Defence Force’s relationship with Comcare – the national work, health and safety authority – was as important as ever.
“Inviting Comcare to see how we are managing, controlling and safely exercising during Austral Shield, which is the largest Reserve exercise in three decades, is really important,” Brigadier Hill said.
“We need to have a close relationship so that our people know they are well looked after, our government knows our people are well looked after, and that Comcare are confident that Defence knows how to look after our people day to day or in the event of an accident.”
In this year’s Exercise Austral Shield, being held across northern Australia, Army Reserve personnel were mobilised at short notice to assist state emergency services in the execution of a domestic security response against a simulated external threat to Australia’s territory.
“Reservists served the community in large numbers during COVID-19 lockdowns and recent natural disasters. Now during Austral Shield, reservists are practising their warfighting functions, which comes with a degree of added risk,” Brigadier Hill said.
With the exercise going smoothly and safely, he urged participants to not let their guard down near the end as people started to get weary.
Comcare director Peter Davies said his visit to Austral Shield HQ reinforced how challenging Defence’s role was.
“Defence is trying to preserve and look after their people in the battle space but they are also trying to train people in a way that is as safe as possible,” Mr Davies said.
“The point has been well made today that Defence’s people are their key capability.
“Defence sees their people as a core capability and therefore a critical work, health and safety consideration. We are very much aligned on the way we see people as a very important component of the workplace.”
Reservists Lieutenant James Charlton and Private Angus Duncan said it was good to know Comcare was available should they ever need it.
“It’s a really good support mechanism for us in the Army to ensure that our training and our exercises are always held to a high standard of safety,” Lieutenant Charlton said.
