With the exception of Western Australia , the colonies also operated their own navies . In 1856 , Victoria received its own naval vessel , HMCSS Victoria , and its deployment to New Zealand in 1860 during the First Taranaki War marked the first occasion that an Australian warship had been deployed overseas . The colonial navies were expanded greatly in the mid @-@ 1880s and consisted of a number of gunboats and torpedo @-@ boats for the defence of harbours and rivers , as well as naval brigades to man vessels and forts . Victoria became the most powerful of all the colonial navies , with the ironclad HMVS Cerberus in service from 1870 , as well as the steam @-@ sail warship HMS Nelson on loan from the Royal Navy , three small gunboats and five torpedo @-@ boats . New South Wales formed a Naval Brigade in 1863 and by the start of the 20th century had two small torpedo @-@ boats and a corvette . The Queensland Maritime Defence Force was established in 1885 , while South Australia operated a single ship , HMCS Protector . Tasmania had also a small Torpedo Corps , while Western Australia 's only naval defences included the Fremantle Naval Artillery . Naval personnel from New South Wales and Victoria took part in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900 , while HMCS Protector was sent by South Australia but saw no action . The separate colonies maintained control over their military and naval forces until Federation in 1901 , when they were amalgamated and placed under the control of the new Commonwealth of Australia .