The Australian Defence Organisation (ADO), also known as simply Defence, is an

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

organisation that consists of both 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) and the

Department of Defence Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

(DoD). The ADO's collective aims are to "defend Australia and its national interests" and "protect and advance Australia's strategic interests".

Diarchy

The Chief of the Defence Force and the Secretary of the Department of Defence jointly manage the ADO under a

diarchy Diarchy (from Greek , ''di-'', "double", and , ''-arkhía'', "ruled"),Occasionally misspelled ''dyarchy'', as in the ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' article on the colonial British institution duarchy, or duumvirate (from Latin ', "the office of ...

and report directly to the

Minister for Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

, and on logistical topics, the

Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the ...

. The ADO diarchy is a governance structure unique in the

Australian Public Service The Australian Public Service (APS) is the federal civil service of the Commonwealth of Australia responsible for the public administration, public policy, and public services of the departments and executive and statutory agencies of the G ...

Australian Defence Force

The armed forces of Australia are the

, consisting of three branches: the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

and

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

. Command of the Australian Defence Force, under the direction of Defence Minister, is the primary responsibility of the Chief of the Defence Force, currently

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Angus Campbell. Reporting to the Chief of Defence Force are the Chief of Navy, Chief of Army, and Chief of Air Force. Each Chief manages the day-to-day executive operations of their branch with both discretionary decision making authority and direction from the Chief of the Defence Force and the various Ministers of the defence portfolio and often cooperate with their counterparts from the other services as well as the Department of Defence. The

Vice Chief of the Defence Force The Vice Chief of the Defence Force (VCDF) is the military deputy to the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) of Australia, and acts as the CDF in his absence under standing acting arrangements. Vice Admiral David Johnston, the incumbent VCDF, has ...

, currently Vice Admiral

David Johnston David Lloyd Johnston (born June 28, 1941) is a Canadian academic, author, and statesman who served from 2010 to 2017 as Governor General of Canada, the 28th since Canadian Confederation. He is the commissioner of the Leaders' Debates Commis ...

, is responsible for joint force integration, preparedness and military strategy, interoperability, and designing the future force. The Joint Operations Command oversees all joint deployments of the Australian Defence Force and is commanded by the Chief of Joint Operations. The Joint Capabilities Group, commanded by the Chief of Joint Capabilities, provides joint military professional education and training, logistics support, health support and oversees the Joint Logistics Command, Joint Health Command,

Australian Defence College The Australian Defence College (ADC) comprises three joint education and training organisations operated by the Australian Defence Force in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: * the War College, * the Australian Defence Force Training Cent ...

, and the Information Warfare Division.

Department of Defence

The Department of Defence is one of the three original Australian Government departments created at

Federation of Australia The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia (which also governed what is now the Northern Territory), and Western A ...

in 1901, alongside the Attorney-General's Department and the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...

. It is the Australian Public Service entity that provides advice, coordination, and program delivery for defence and military policy. The Department of Defence also manages and oversees a range of public service and defence force agencies and organisations that deliver and develop the capabilities and services that support the Australian Defence Force. Such agencies include the Army and Air Force Canteen Service, the Defence Community Organisation, and

Defence Housing Australia Defence Housing Australia (DHA) is an Australian government business enterprise established by the ''Defence Housing Australia Act 1987''. DHA supplies housing and related services to Australian Defence Force members and their families in lin ...

. The Department also includes key groups including the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group, the

Defence Science and Technology Group The Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) is part of the Australian Department of Defence dedicated to providing science and technology support to safeguard Australia and its national interests. The agency's name was changed from Defence ...

, and the

Defence Strategic Policy and Intelligence Group The Defence Strategic Policy and Intelligence Group (SP&I) of the Australian Government Department of Defence is responsible for defence diplomacy, strategic policy, international security, and military intelligence co-ordination and advice ...

(which oversees the

Australian Signals Directorate Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), formerly the Defence Signals Directorate (DSD) is the federal statutory agency in the Australian Government responsible for foreign signals intelligence, support to military operations, cyber warfare, and ...

Defence Intelligence Organisation The Defence Intelligence Organisation (DIO) is an Australian government military intelligence agency responsible for strategic intelligence and technical intelligence assessments, advising defence and government decision-making on national se ...

, and

Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation The Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation (AGO) is an Australian government intelligence agency that is part of the Department of Defence responsible for the collection, analysis, and distribution of geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in ...

References

{{Military of Asia Australian Defence Organisation Australian Defence Force

Military of Australia Commonwealth Government agencies of Australia