In the eighteenth century, Royal Navy ships were stationed in or visited the fledging settlements. Although some Australian colonies acquired naval vessels in the late nineteenth century (usually small gunboats), the Royal Navy maintained an Australia Squadron in Australasian waters.
The accepted policy of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was that settler colonies should be able to defend their major ports from raids, and that the Royal Navy’s main fleet would deal with any large-scale attack. Even when Australia formed the Commonwealth Naval Forces in 1901, Australia’s place in the British Empire meant the Royal Navy remained its ultimate defender.
The above state of affairs continued until Imperial Japan’s attacks in the Pacific and Southeast Asia in December 1941, when Australia turned to the United States. While the United States remains Australia’s principal strategic ally, it is far from the only one. Australia has, or has had, various alliance or defence-related agreements with inter alia Singapore, Britain, New Zealand, Malaysia, France, Indonesia, Sweden, Germany, Papua New Guinea, India, the Netherlands, and Japan. Australia is or was involved, to various degrees, in ANZUS, AUKUS, the Five Powers Defence Arrangements, Five Eyes, the Far East Strategic Reserve, and SEATO—to name just some.
As the strategic and defence analyst, Hugh White, has argued, Australia is an island and the defence of an island takes place at sea. The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is a modern, well-trained and increasingly well-equipped navy. While the RAN is the world’s 20th-largest navy by ‘true value rating’ (based on power, capabilities, modernity, units, experience etc.), its rating is just 11 per cent of that of either of the top two: the United States Navy and China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy. Alliances are critical to Australia's security.
AUKUS is a trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, established in September 2021. Its primary objective is to enhance collective security and defence capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region.
AUKUS and the Indo-Pacific: An Emerging Debate | This report explores AUKUS’s impact on Indo-Pacific stability, assessing how regional states and hedging strategies may influence Australian and U.S. efforts to counter rising Chinese influence and strategic competition.
ANZAM was a Commonwealth defence arrangement between Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, established in 1949.
ANZAM and Australia’s Increasing Defence Responsibilities in the Post-war Asia-Pacific | Australia, Britain, and New Zealand established ANZAM, defining a shared strategic responsibility and creating trilateral planning mechanisms for defence cooperation in the region.
The Australian Station was a Royal Navy command established in 1859 to oversee British naval operations in the southwest Pacific. Based in Sydney, it encompassed a vast area including Australia, New Zealand, and numerous Pacific islands. The Station's primary roles were to protect maritime trade routes, deter potential threats, and support colonial interests in the region. In 1913, control of the Station was transferred to the newly formed RAN, marking a significant step in Australia's naval autonomy.
Australia’s Naval Inheritance: Imperial Maritime Strategy and the Australia Station, 1880-1909 | This volume presents key historical records showing how maritime trade protection shaped early Australian naval policy. It details debates over force structure, personnel, and the shift from British to national naval control before 1913.