Chapter 12
DFAT, AusAID and other government agencies
Introduction
12.1
In the previous three chapters, the committee examined the roles,
preparedness and training regimes of the ADF and the AFP as separate entities
and then as combined elements in a peacekeeping operation. Peacekeeping
operations, however, are no longer solely the domain of the military or the
police—other government agencies have become major players. The important role
of these 'other' organisations in peacekeeping operations was acknowledged in
several submissions. Ms Gillian Bird, DFAT, noted:
The traditional blue helmet model...is no longer the norm. Today
we are seeing many operations, which include peacemaking and law enforcement
functions, humanitarian protection, support for electoral processes and
institution building and postconflict reconstruction as essential elements of
their mandates. These operations require the skills not only of trained
military personnel but also of civilian police, aid workers, legal personnel,
medical personnel and accountants.[1]
12.2
AusAID also observed that there is 'an increasing awareness
internationally that peacekeeping operations must be situated within a comprehensive
and long-term approach to peacebuilding and statebuilding'.[2]
12.3
In this chapter, the committee introduces the main agencies likely to be
involved in peacekeeping, with a particular focus on DFAT and AusAID. It also considers
their respective roles and the training regimes for personnel to be deployed.
Government agencies and their roles
12.4
In addition to Defence and the AFP, a number of government agencies have
contributed to peacekeeping operations in Bougainville, East Timor or Solomon
Islands. They include DFAT, Attorney-General's Department, AusAID, Australian
Electoral Commission (AEC), Customs, Department of Finance and Deregulation
(Finance), Office of Financial Management, National Archives, Treasury and
Department of Veterans' Affairs.[3]
12.5
As at July 2007, Australia had a significant number of civilian
personnel in UN peacekeeping missions including 152 civilians deployed in East
Timor and Solomon Islands.[4]
12.6
DFAT has a central role in coordinating the whole-of-government response
to conflicts in cooperation with the ADF and the AFP.[5]
As noted in Chapter 3, during the early stages of a proposed mission, DFAT monitors
and gathers facts about international events, consults with other countries and,
through discussions with other departments, provides advice to government on
the likely effects of Australia's participation in a peacekeeping operation. DFAT
also assigns staff to peacekeeping operations. For example, Mr Tim George,
a career diplomat with DFAT, is the Special Coordinator of RAMSI.
12.7
AusAID is also a major contributor to peacekeeping operations, working
with its partners, including NGOs, in the field of development and humanitarian
aid. It focuses on conflict prevention and peacebuilding; conflict management
and reduction; and post-conflict recovery.[6]
Its aid programs play 'a critical role' in supporting peacekeeping operations.[7]
AusAID does not generally deploy staff into line positions within peace
operations. Its officers tend to work with and alongside 'key actors in peace
operations to inform Australian Government humanitarian and development
responses to the particular crisis'.[8]
12.8
In addition to its own staff deployments and contracted experts, AusAID
assists volunteer efforts. In 2006–07, AusAID spent $31.5 million to place 882
Australian volunteers overseas in 29 countries in the Middle East, Africa and
the Asia–Pacific region.[9]
AusAID places volunteers through volunteer service providers.[10]
12.9
Other agencies such as the AEC, Treasury and Finance also provide skilled
staff to assist a peacekeeping operation. For example, involved in
international electoral assistance since 1989, the AEC has staff with extensive
experience in the management of elections and cooperation with other agencies
internationally.[11]
AEC staff have served as election supervisors, researchers and project
managers. They have also provided training for new
electoral administrators in recipient countries and coordinated curriculum
development.[12]
12.10
Treasury has participated in international peacekeeping operations since
2003 as part of RAMSI in Solomon Islands. In financial year 2006–07, three
departmental officers were deployed with RAMSI, assisting their counterparts to
use the budget process to encourage accountable and transparent spending decisions.[13]
Another four Treasury officers were deployed to the Economic Reform Unit to
liaise with 'government, donors and other stakeholders to identify
opportunities for economic reform and facilitate its implementation'.[14]
12.11
Similarly, in 2006–07, three Finance officers were deployed as part of
the Financial Management Strengthening Program within RAMSI. They 'provided
training in budget processes for local officials and continued work on
maintaining and developing the financial management framework and expenditure
controls for the Solomon Islands Government'.[15]
Agency-specific training
12.12
Unlike ADF or AFP personnel, government civilian peacekeepers are not charged
with restoring or maintaining peace or enforcing law and order. They are
selected for their specialist knowledge and skills and tend to occupy
administrative roles. Hence they are not as likely as the military or the police
to confront difficult conflict situations. Nonetheless, they live and work in
an environment very different from home and are often without immediate access
to the resources they would normally have at hand.
12.13
There is a substantial amount of evidence emphasising the need for and
benefits of pre-deployment training for public servants engaged in peacekeeping
operations. For example, the Challenges Project argued that 'For
government employees it is a matter of due diligence that governments make
available comprehensive training for peace operations'.[16]
12.14
Mr David Ritchie, DFAT, observed that there is 'a substantial training
component for Australian public servants who are deployed to Solomon Islands
government departments'. The pre-deployment preparation comprises a unit of
training in Australia and then further training in Solomon Islands which
includes cross-cultural awareness courses and instruction in the work
environment.[17] DFAT noted
that it provides training in cultural awareness and language skills both prior
to deployment and in the country of operation. Language and cultural awareness
training is discussed more fully in Chapter 18.
12.15
AusAID has engaged RedR Australia, a humanitarian organisation
specialised in training NGOs in the field of humanitarian operations, to provide
security training for its employees. In 2006–07, 30 AusAID officers took part
in the RedR Essentials of Humanitarian Practice course and 18 in the Personal
Security and Communications course. In addition, one officer attended the Basics
of International Humanitarian Response course run by the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Centre.[18]
12.16
The training regime for AusAID's Rapid Response Team (RRT)—'a team of
trained AusAID emergency response personnel'[19]—is
more comprehensive. In addition to the above courses, members undertake a
psychological test and attend an RRT course. It is a five-day training program focusing
on the global context in humanitarian disaster response; AusAID specific
issues; data collection and analysis; and familiarisation with communication
devices. The training finishes with a two-day simulation. Training at overseas
posts is otherwise similar but the content and context is customised for local
conditions. According to AusAID, other government agencies and NGOs are
increasingly attending the course.[20]
12.17
Because of the smaller number of Australian civilian officers deployed
to a peacekeeping operation and the diversity of their tasks and functions,
relevant agencies do not have a training regime as structured as the ADF or the
AFP. Many rely on other agencies such as DFAT, AusAID, ADF and AFP or other
sources such as universities and NGOs to help them prepare their officers for
deployment. The Australian Red Cross was of the view that training across government
agencies for personnel potentially involved in peacekeeping 'appears to be
inadequate'.[21]
It wanted to emphasise the important role that it and similar organisations 'can
play in the pre-deployment phase and would strongly recommend that such organisations
be involved in all general and pre-deployment training and briefings offered'.[22]
12.18
AusAID has taken on a role training personnel from other government
agencies, which is discussed in the following chapter dealing with coordinating
Australia's contribution to peacekeeping operations.[23]
Training the trainers
12.19
Public servants deployed to a peacekeeping operation are often involved
in training their host country counterparts. To have a lasting benefit, local
people should learn from these experts and as soon as practicable replace them.
Thus, peacekeepers in these positions need to be able to effectively impart
their specialist skills and knowledge. In this regard, Professor Raymond Apthorpe
and Mr Jacob Townsend pointed to the importance of teaching and training skills:
The tendency is to assume that those with knowledge can make
others learn it, which is an assumption challenged by experience and the
existence of teacher training for our own education systems.[24]
12.20
They submitted that a 'major requirement for executing capacity-building
programs effectively is to have staff who are trained as trainers'.[25]
Using the same argument, Associate Professor Wainwright raised the issue of
dependency and the importance of ensuring that those working within host
governments are passing on skills and not just doing the job themselves.[26]
12.21
The AFP certainly recognises its role as a teacher in a peacekeeping
operation. Personnel attend courses to learn 'a coaching approach to capacity
development'.[27]
The committee believes that all Australian personnel likely to be involved in
capacity building should undergo courses on how to be an effective trainer.
Contracting
12.22
According to DFAT, where 'the right skill sets are not readily
available', government agencies attempt to find a suitable candidate from
outside the public service through a merit selection process or contracting.
All are required to abide by either the Australian Public Service Code of
Conduct or a Code of Conduct developed for contractors. Public servants are
required to undergo a security clearance; contractors are required to be of
'good name and character' and have no criminal record.[28]
12.23
AusAID follows the same guidelines as DFAT when recruiting civilians for
overseas operations. It can 'enter into direct contract arrangements for the
provision of technical advisers', and has a formal funding agreement with RedR Australia
to provide technical experts to UN agencies. The deployments are usually 'of
three to six months' duration but may be as short as a few weeks'. In the period
July 2006–July 2007, there had been 55 such deployments.[29]
12.24
AusAID advised that training for contractors is outsourced. GRM
International provides pre-deployment briefings to contracted personnel and
suppliers 'as stipulated in AusAID's contract for the Provision of Services for
Governance and Related Aid Activity in Solomon Islands'. AusAID stated that it
monitors GRM's performance through quarterly milestones reporting and
independent annual audits.[30]
Committee view
12.25
The committee recognises the importance of ensuring that all Australian
peacekeepers receive adequate training before they are deployed. It accepts
that departments such as Treasury, that contribute only a small number of staff
to peacekeeping operations, may not have the resources or expertise to train staff
adequately for deployment. The committee is therefore concerned that officers
from such departments may miss out on appropriate training opportunities.
12.26
In the committee's view, the current training programs for Australian
public servants, apart from AusAID's RRT, could be better structured. To some
extent, the existing lack of structure is understandable because specialists
are being drawn from various departments to perform specific tasks. The committee
believes that more could be done to coordinate the training programs for
Commonwealth public servants in a peacekeeping operation.
12.27
Preparing officers engaged in capacity building to be effective teachers
and trainers is one particular area that warrants close attention.
12.28
The committee also believes that contractors who undertake work on
behalf of the Australian Government in a peacekeeping operation should be
appropriately trained and prepared. Agencies that engage outside contractors still
have responsibility for the conduct and behaviour of contractors. The committee
believes that government agencies, as part of their due diligence and duty of
care obligations, must ensure that any contractor performing work on behalf of
the Commonwealth in a peacekeeping operation is fully equipped to do so.
Recommendation 11
12.29
The committee recommends that DFAT and AusAID jointly review the
pre-deployment training arrangements for Commonwealth officers being deployed
on peacekeeping missions with a view to establishing a government approved
course of training. The committee recommends further that:
- all Commonwealth personnel deploying to a peacekeeping
operation satisfy the requirements of this course;
- relevant government agencies require all their external
contractors providing services to a peacekeeping operation to undergo
appropriate screening and training; and
- to ensure the effective transfer of skills and knowledge, DFAT
and AusAID include in their pre-deployment preparations a 'training for
trainers' course for personnel whose duties involve instructing or coaching
people in a host country.
Conclusion
12.30
To this point, the committee has considered training from an individual
agency perspective. The ADF, AFP and AusAID, in particular, have developed
programs suited specifically for their officers, though AusAID has taken on a
training function for other departments. The committee has also considered ADF
and AFP interoperability. As the committee found with the ADF and the AFP, the
various elements of a peacekeeping operation work best when they come together
as an integrated whole. The following chapter looks at the approach taken by
the Australian Government and its agencies to achieving this integration.
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