Australia 's involvement in international peacekeeping operations has been diverse , and included participation in both United Nations sponsored missions , as well as those as part of ad @-@ hoc coalitions . Australians have been involved in more conflicts as peacekeepers than as belligerents ; however " in comparative international terms , Australia has only been a moderately energetic peacekeeper . " Although Australia has had peacekeepers in the field continuously for 60 years — being among the first group of UN military observers in Indonesia in 1947 — its commitments have generally been limited , consisting mostly of small numbers of high @-@ level and technical support troops such as signallers , engineers , medics , observers , and police . One significant commitment has been Australia 's ongoing involvement with the long running Multinational Force and Observers in the Sinai . The operational tempo started increasing in the mid @-@ 1990s , when Australia became involved in a series of high @-@ profile operations , deploying significantly larger combat units in support of a number of missions including Cambodia , Rwanda , Somalia , East Timor , and the Solomon Islands . Australia has been involved in close to 100 separate missions , involving more than 30 @,@ 000 personnel ; 14 Australians have died during these operations .