Capabilities-Based Defense Planning: The Australian Experience

Abstract

Obliged by regional political and security developments, Australia has been forced to experiment with a capabilities-based defense planning for over 20 years. The ultimate success of the planning methodology is validated by the fact that the Australian Defence Force is now capable of executing a larger number of nationally determined tasks than was possible in the past. Australian experience demonstrates that greater jointness can be developed, but only after significant changes have been made to the force development bureaucracy. While perhaps not all of the Australian experience is relevant to every country, it does provide a successful model of a capabilities-based defense planning and force development model, which emphasizes the maximum use of jointness capabilities.