The Australian Civilian Corps (ACC) is an Australian Government sub-agency that recruits and deploys civilian specialists to provide aid to developing nations in times of conflict or natural disasters.[1] It is a component of AusAID (the Australian Agency for International Development) that was created in 2009[2] and operates to increase the effectiveness of Australia's overseas aid program by providing rapid response capabilities.
The ACC maintains a register of up to 500 civilians who have offered their particular skills and experience in a wide range of roles. These registered civilians can be engaged for rapid deployment to natural disaster zones and regions experiencing conflict to assist and coordinate disaster recovery efforts,[3] where an official request for assistance has been received from the affected nation.
The ACC has sent deployments to South Sudan, Haiti and Afghanistan, supporting recovery and stabilisation programs.[4] An ACC worker was seriously injured in a suicide attack in the Uruzgan province of Afghanistan in March 2012.[5]