The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It has three branches: the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The ADF has a strength of just over 89,000 personnel and is supported by the Department of Defence and several other civilian agencies.
The retirement of the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne without replacement in 1982 marked a shift away from the policy of "forward defence".
Australian soldiers lead a column of American troops during Exercise Kangaroo '89, which was held in northern Australia.
A RAAF C-130 Hercules being unloaded at Tallil Air Base, Iraq, during April 2003
Australian Army ASLAV armoured vehicles in Afghanistan during 2011
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. Australia is the largest country by area in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country. Australia is the oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils. It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates, with deserts in the centre, tropical rainforests in the north-east, tropical savannas in the north, and mountain ranges in the south-east.
Aboriginal rock art in the Kimberley region of Western Australia
Landing of James Cook at Botany Bay on 29 April 1770 to claim Australia's east coast for Great Britain
Tasmania's Port Arthur penal settlement is one of eleven UNESCO World Heritage-listed Australian Convict Sites.
The Big Picture, a painting by Tom Roberts, depicts the opening of the first Australian Parliament in 1901.
