Operation Relex is the name given to the

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Forc ...

(ADF) border protection operation in the country's northern approaches conducted between 2001 and 2006. The operation was instigated following the

Tampa affair In late August 2001, the Howard Government of Australia refused permission for the Norwegian freighter MV ''Tampa'', carrying 433 rescued refugees (predominantly Hazaras of Afghanistan from a distressed fishing vessel in international water ...

in September 2001 and the Australian government's resultant

Pacific Solution Pacific Solution is the name given to the Government of Australia policy of transporting asylum seekers to detention centres on island nations in the Pacific Ocean, rather than allowing them to land on the Australian mainland. Initially impl ...

. The focus of Operation Relex was

illegal immigration Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

, with assets from all three services of the ADF deployed to prevent the arrival of

Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel Suspected Irregular Entry Vessel (SIEV) was the operational term used by the Australian Defence Force and Australian Coastwatch for maritime vessels which appear to be attempting to reach Australia clandestinely. The legal context was of ves ...

s (SIEVs) in the Australian migration zone. The primary period of activity of Operation Relex was between October and December 2001 when ten SIEVs were intercepted by HMA Ships , , and , assisted by several Fremantle-class patrol boats. Operation Relex was folded into the broader border protection activity named

Operation Resolute Operation Resolute is the Australian Defence Force's contribution to the Australian governments effort to protect Australia's borders through surveillance and response. Operation Resolute began on 17 July 2006 and consolidated a number of previo ...

which commenced in July 2006. In 2013, the Abbott Government implemented

Operation Sovereign Borders Operation Sovereign Borders (OSB) is a border protection operation led by the Australian Defence Force, aimed at stopping maritime arrivals of asylum seekers to Australia. The operation is the outcome of a 2013 federal election policy of the ...

Operational Service Medal – Border Protection

The Australian Government issued a medal for service on Border Protection on 22 May 2012. To qualify, ADF members must have been deployed or force assigned for duty as a member of a declared operation: * for a period of not less than an aggregate of 30 days; or * completed 30 sorties from a unit assigned to a declared operation, provided that those sorties were conducted over a period of not less than an aggregate of 30 days at a rate of one sortie per day.

Op Relex

3 September to 13 March 2002

Op Relex II

14 March 2002 to 16 July 2006

HMA Ships Involved in Op Relex

Major Fleet Units Patrol Boats

References

* * {{refend 2001 in Australia Relex Suspected Illegal Entry Vessels