The past fifteen years have seen a rapid growth in private sector firms supporting military operations.  More recently, the ADF has employed the private sector to varying degrees in East Timor, Bougainville, Afghanistan and Iraq. 

The paper, prepared by Mark Thomson, puts forward four recommendations on how the ADF could work with the private sector.

View the Legal Opinion on the status of non-combatants and contractors under international humanitarian law and Australian law prepared by Professor Donald R Rothwell.