Although the primary role of the British Army was to protect the colonies against external attack , no actual threat ever materialised . The British Army was instead used in policing , guarding convicts at penal institutions , combating bushranging , putting down convict rebellions — as occurred at Bathurst in 1830 — and to suppress Aboriginal resistance to the extension of European settlement . Notably British soldiers were involved in the battle at the Eureka Stockade in 1854 on the Victorian goldfields . Members of British regiments stationed in Australia also saw action in India , Afghanistan , New Zealand and the Sudan .