Australia's Humanitarian Logistics Capability and relief supplies

Australia's humanitarian crisis response

Australia responds to disasters in the Indo-Pacific by delivering timely and effective humanitarian emergency relief supplies.

In the immediate aftermath of a crisis, and at the request of the partner government, Australia sends humanitarian emergency relief supplies that seek to provide safe and reliable shelter, access to clean drinking water, and essential supplies that seeks to increase the safety of women and children and maintain human dignity.

A key principle of Australia's humanitarian response is urgency. Australia's humanitarian emergency relief supplies are configured to enable the Australian Government to deliver the widest possible range of rapid response options to countries affected by crisis.

Humanitarian warehousing and relief supplies

Australia's humanitarian supplies are held in humanitarian warehouses in Brisbane and Papua New Guinea and can support at least 11,500 families – or 57,500 people.

The Humanitarian Logistics Capability warehouse in Brisbane maintains the largest stockpile of prepositioned humanitarian emergency relief supplies within the Southern Hemisphere, with the capacity to respond to three simultaneous crises.

The Humanitarian Logistics Capability (HLC) facilitates the timely, effective, and flexible delivery of the Australian Government’s humanitarian assistance and emergency relief program around the world, providing high quality, multifaceted, flexible and responsive project management and humanitarian supply chain solutions in support of Australia’s Humanitarian Emergency Relief activities. The HLC’s Annual Report 2023-24 is available for download:

The HLC has been subject to an HLC Mid-Term Evaluation (2022) and Management Response.

In addition to this, Australia also maintains an arrangement with the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD). Australia can leverage the UNHRD network and deliver humanitarian supplies from six key UNHRD locations (Panama, Las Palmas, Brindisi, Accra, Dubai, and Kuala Lumpur).

Working in partnership

A fundamental piece to the Australian Government's ability to respond to disasters in the Indo-Pacific is through DFAT's collaboration with partner humanitarian organisations, such as the Australian Red Cross, the United Nations agencies, and the Australian Humanitarian Partnership.

These partners also maintain a stockpile of supplies in the Humanitarian Logistics Capability warehouse in Brisbane, enabling a closely coordinated rapid response with the Australian Government.

Listening to the Indo-Pacific

Australia is a humanitarian partner to the Indo-Pacific and importantly, humanitarian responses also need to be guided by Indo-Pacific priorities.

Upon the request of a country affected by crisis, Australia's Humanitarian Logistics Capability can provide fast-track tailored procurement to ensure humanitarian relief is relevant to their needs and is timely.

Australia delivers humanitarian emergency relief supplies to communities in need. Below are some examples of Australia's recent emergency responses.