National Anti Terrorism Exercise (NATEX)

National Anti Terrorism Exercises (NATEXs) also known as National Counter Terrorism Exercises (NCTE) are an exercise program involving the Australian Federal Government and all States and Territories. Australia’s national anti-terrorist arrangements are well practised with two major NATEXs held annually. The Attorney Generals Department manages the Counter-Terrorism Branch (CTB) which supports the National Counter-Terrorism Committee (NCTC) who run the exercise program.

The program includes discussion exercises, tactical response exercises, investigation and consequence management exercises and multi-jurisdictional exercises. Such incidents practised include recapturing buildings, freeing hostages, cordoning off areas or responding to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear

Nuclear warfare

Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...

or explosive attack.

NATEX exercises of various types are run and tested several times per year testing various elements of the Australian Defence Force

Australian Defence Force

The Australian Defence Force is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy , Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force and a number of 'tri-service' units...

such as the Tactical Assault Group (West & East), Special Operations Command (Australia)

Special Operations Command (Australia)

The Special Operations Command is a command within the Australian Defence Force . Special Operations Command was established in May 2003, to unite all of the ADF special forces units. As of 2007 Special Operations Command is fully operational. Australia's Special Operations Command is of...

and Incident Response Regiment.
Exercises involve various elements of State/Territory Police Forces such as their respective Police Tactical Group

Police Tactical Group

Police tactical groups , formerly known as "police assault groups", are part of the Australian government's National Anti-Terrorism Plan which, since 1978, has required each state and territory police force to maintain a specialised counter-terrorist and hostage rescue unit jointly funded by the...

and various intelligence agencies and units such as ASIO

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation is Australia's national security service, which is responsible for the protection of the country and its citizens from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign interference, politically-motivated violence, attacks on the Australian defence system, and...

. As well as involving various elements of the Federal Government exercises also test the capability, co-ordination and response of the State/Territory Government, State Emergency Service

State Emergency Service

A State Emergency Service is an Australian volunteer organisation that provides emergency help during and after declared disasters. The SES is also the primary or secondary agency for emergencies, such as storm damage,flood damage, building damage, traffic hazards and road crash rescue...

s, the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department, the Australian Defence Force

Australian Defence Force

, the Australian Federal Police

Australian Federal Police

The Australian Federal Police is the federal police agency of the Commonwealth of Australia. Although the AFP was created by the amalgamation in 1979 of three Commonwealth law enforcement agencies, it traces its history from Commonwealth law enforcement agencies dating back to the federation of...

and other Commonwealth agencies.

Exercises are tailored to prepare for specific events such as the 2000 Sydney Olympic games, 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games and the 2007 Sydney APEC forum

APEC Australia 2007

APEC Australia 2007 was a series of political meetings held around Australia between the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation during 2007...

Types of exercises

The National Counter Terrorism Co-ordination Centre maintains what is known as the 'National Exercise Program'. This program involves a range of tactical, operational and strategic level exercises, which are conducted on a rotational basis throughout all Australian States and Territories.

There are four main counter terrorism exercises conducted under the NCTC National Exercise Program:

MJEX (Multi-Jurisdictional Exercise)
ICMEX (Investigation and Consequence Management Exercise)
TACREX (Tactical Response Exercise)
DISCEX (Discussion Exercise)

Counter terrorism exercises

2011 - ‘Black Angus’ - Multi-agency counter-terrorism exercise held at Sydney Olympic Park
Sydney Olympic Park
Sydney Olympic Park is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sydney Olympic Park is located 16 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Auburn Council....

testing police and other agencies response to Mumbai style terrorist attack
2008 Mumbai attacks
The 2008 Mumbai attacks were more than 10 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across Mumbai, India's largest city, by Islamist attackers who came from Pakistan...

.

2010 - 'Mercury 10' - Multi-jurisdictional counter-terrorism exercise held across ACT, Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory.

2010 - 'Metro Surge' - Multi-agency counter-terrorism exercise held in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

.

2009/2010 - 'Prometheus', 'Proteus', 'Baccus' - Queensland Police
Queensland Police
The Queensland Police Service is the law enforcement agency responsible for policing the Australian state of Queensland. In 1990, the Queensland Police Force was officially renamed the Queensland Police Service and the old motto of "Firmness with Courtesy" was changed to "With Honour We Serve"...

exercise focus sing on a variety of State specific events/locations.

2009 - 'Hotel Taunt' - Queensland Police
Queensland Police
The Queensland Police Service is the law enforcement agency responsible for policing the Australian state of Queensland. In 1990, the Queensland Police Force was officially renamed the Queensland Police Service and the old motto of "Firmness with Courtesy" was changed to "With Honour We Serve"...

and Australian Customs Service
Australian Customs Service
The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service is the Australian Federal Government agency responsible for managing the security and integrity of the Australian border, facilitating the movement of legitimate international travellers and goods, and collecting border-related duties and...

exercise held in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

.

2008 - 'Mercury 08' - Multi-jurisdictional counter-terrorism exercise held across Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

and Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

.

2007 - 'Southern Contact' - Multi-agency counter-terrorism exercise held in Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

testing operational response of various agencies to incidents.

2006 - 'Blue Luminary' - Multi-Agency counter-terrorism exercise held in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

in preparation for the 2007 APEC summit
APEC Australia 2007
APEC Australia 2007 was a series of political meetings held around Australia between the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation during 2007...

.

2006 - 'Western Explorer' - Counter-terrorism response capability exercise held in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

.

2005 - 'Mercury 05' - Multi-jurisdictional counter-terrorism exercise held in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

focused on prperation for the 2006 Commonwealth Games
2006 Commonwealth Games
The 2006 Commonwealth Games were held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia between 15 March and 26 March 2006. It was the largest sporting event to be staged in Melbourne, eclipsing the 1956 Summer Olympics in terms of the number of teams competing, athletes competing, and events being held.The site...

held in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

.

2005 - 'Mars Anchor' - Australian Defence Force
Australian Defence Force
The Australian Defence Force is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy , Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force and a number of 'tri-service' units...

Special Operations Command
Special Operations Command (Australia)
The Special Operations Command is a command within the Australian Defence Force . Special Operations Command was established in May 2003, to unite all of the ADF special forces units. As of 2007 Special Operations Command is fully operational. Australia's Special Operations Command is of...

counter-terrorism exercise held in prperation for Mercury 05 and the 2006 Commonwealth Games
2006 Commonwealth Games
The 2006 Commonwealth Games were held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia between 15 March and 26 March 2006. It was the largest sporting event to be staged in Melbourne, eclipsing the 1956 Summer Olympics in terms of the number of teams competing, athletes competing, and events being held.The site...

.

2004 - 'Mercury 04' - The inaugural multi-jurisdictional exercise involving Tasmania, South Australia, the Northern Territory and Victoria.

2003 - 'Scrummage' - Multi-jurisdictional counter-terrorism exercise held in preparation for the 2003 Rugby World Cup
2003 Rugby World Cup
The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...

.

2001 - Major exercises held in preparation for the 2002 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, , is a biennial summit meeting of the heads of government from all Commonwealth nations. Every two years the meeting is held in a different member state, and is chaired by that nation's respective Prime Minister or President, who becomes the...

held in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

.

Relevant units

Australian Defence Force
Australian Defence Force
The Australian Defence Force is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy , Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force and a number of 'tri-service' units...

- Tactical Assault Group, Incident Response Regiment Police Tactical Group
Police Tactical Group
Police tactical groups , formerly known as "police assault groups", are part of the Australian government's National Anti-Terrorism Plan which, since 1978, has required each state and territory police force to maintain a specialised counter-terrorist and hostage rescue unit jointly funded by the...

Australian Federal Police
Australian Federal Police
The Australian Federal Police is the federal police agency of the Commonwealth of Australia. Although the AFP was created by the amalgamation in 1979 of three Commonwealth law enforcement agencies, it traces its history from Commonwealth law enforcement agencies dating back to the federation of...

- Operational Response Group

Operational Response Group

The Operational Response Group is a police tactical group of the Australian Federal Police and part of the AFP's International Deployment Group able to support the AFP in both National and International tactical operations..-History:...

Australian Federal Police
Australian Federal Police
The Australian Federal Police is the federal police agency of the Commonwealth of Australia. Although the AFP was created by the amalgamation in 1979 of three Commonwealth law enforcement agencies, it traces its history from Commonwealth law enforcement agencies dating back to the federation of...

- Specialist Response and Security Team

Specialist Response and Security

The Specialist Response and Security Team is the Special Operations and Police Tactical Group of the Australian Federal Police having responsibility for tactical and specialist operations within the Australian Capital Territory...

New South Wales - Tactical Operations Unit
State Protection Group
The State Protection Group is part of the Specialist Operations division of the New South Wales Police Force, having been established in 1991 to deal with extraordinary policing responses. The SPG directly supports police in high-risk incidents such as sieges with specialised tactical,...
Northern Territory - Territory Response Group
Territory Response Group
The Territory Response Group is the Police Tactical Group of the Northern Territory Police. Part of the Territory Response Section the TRG is tasked to provide general and specialist support to other units of the Northern Territory Police...
Queensland - Special Emergency Response Team
Special Emergency Response Team (Queensland)
Special Emergency Response Team is the Police Tactical Group of the Queensland Police, Australia. SERT is part of the Specialist Response Branch within the Operations Support Command which incorporates the Explosive Operations Response Team and the Negotiator Coordination Unit...
South Australia - Special Tasks and Rescue Group
Special Tasks and Rescue
Special Tasks and Rescue is the Police Tactical Group of the South Australia Police.-History:Formed on 30 November 1978 the South Australian Police STAR Group was a rationalisation of specialist resources into one command/unit. Specialist units had existed prior to 1978 within SAPOL to deal with...
Tasmania - Special Operations Group
Special Operations Group of the Tasmania Police
The Special Operations Group is the Police Tactical Group of the Australian Tasmania Police. SOG is a highly trained group within the Tasmania Police Service, made up of current serving Tasmania Police members from varied sections and branches.-Mission:...
Victoria (Australia) - Special Operations Group
Victoria Police Special Operations Group
The Special Operations Group is the police tactical group of the Victoria Police.-History:The Special Operations Group was formed in 1977. Its main function was to provide a response to politically motivated and criminal terrorist activity. Today, this remains the number one priority for the...
Western Australia - Tactical Response Group
New Zealand - Armed Offenders Squad
Armed Offenders Squad
The Armed Offenders Squad is a specialist unit of the New Zealand Police designed to "cordon, contain and appeal to" armed and dangerous offenders. As the name explains, they are called upon when conflict with an armed offender has occurred or is considered imminent.The AOS draw upon a varied...

, Special Tactics Group
Special Tactics Group
The Special Tactics Group , formerly known as the Anti-Terrorist Squad, is the full-time tactical and counter-terrorism group of the New Zealand Police....

External links

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Types of exercises

Counter terrorism exercises

Relevant units

See also

External links