The role of the Partnerships and Preparedness Directorate
The Partnerships and Preparedness Directorate manages relationships across a variety of actors in order to deliver its civil-military-police coordination activities. Within the Australian Government, ACMC deals primarily with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department of Home Affairs, the National Emergency Management Agency, the Australian Federal Police. Outside of government, ACMC partners with a broad range of civil society actors, such as UN agencies, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and the Australian Council for International Development. Importantly, ACMC also maintains networks with international actors and forums for its regional activities. These include the Regional Consultative Group for Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination in the Asia-Pacific; the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management; and the Singaporean Regional Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Coordination Centre. Using these networks, the Partnerships and Preparedness Directorate has a suite of training activities to strengthen domestic and regional civil-military-police capabilities. It regularly runs courses, workshops and exercises in civil-military-police coordination and other related themes of pertinence, such as Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief, Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, and Women, Peace and Security. These courses are held with government agencies, regional partners, civil society organisations, or a combination thereof. Additionally, the Directorate coordinates ACMC support to military and civilian exercises and plans designed by other agencies by providing tailored content to highlight the importance of civil-military-police capabilities in crisis response. All of these activities are supported by a logistics and administrative unit to ensure our activities are delivered to a high standard. The Director of Partnerships and Preparedness is Mr Peter Giugni who leads a team that includes Australian Public Service personnel and contracted experts employed for their education expertise and experience in Australian government policy development.