Page 48 - Australian Defence Mag March 2020

48 BORDER PROTECTION OVERVIEW
MARCH 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
THE BORDER PROTECTION CONTINUUM
When it comes to Australia’s border protection, enforcement of our exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and maritime security responsibilities, there are a range of organisations tasked with the job. Grouped under the Home Affairs portfolio and the Australian Border Force, Maritime Border Command (MBC) sees Rear Admiral Lee Goddard in charge of an important part of the border protection continuum.
KATHERINE ZIESING | CANBERRA
THE various organisations responsible for civil maritime security have had various iterations over the years. Since mid-2015, Maritime Border Command (MBC) has resided within the Australian Border Force (ABF) with policy driv- en by the Department of Home Affairs. The organisation is commanded and tasked by the ABF, under the leader- ship of Commissioner ABF Michael Outram. MBC is ca- pability enabled by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and the ABF to do core roles; civil maritime security, both to protect Australia’s borders against a range of civil mari- time threats and meet international obligations to conduct coastguard-like activities.
Australia, through the International Maritime Organisa- tion (IMO), is directly responsible for approximately 11 per cent of the planet’s oceans, a big ask for a nation of 24.5 mil- lion people. This area of responsibility that equates to MBC’s area of operation is hard to grasp without a map at hand (see next page).
In the north, it projects well into south-east Asia, our sea/ air gap with Indonesia and into the Torres Strait. At the clos-
ABOVE: The ABF conducts operations in support of a wide variety of missions.
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