Australian Embassy

Vietnam

Embassy address: 8 Dao Tan Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi - Telephone: 831 7755 - Fax: 831 7711

Pre-2005

High-Level Exchanges

Several high-level exchanges have already occurred:

The Chief of Defence Force (CDF) conducted the first ever visit by an Australia CDF to SRV in May 2000.
Defence is represented at high level Annual Regional Bilateral Security Talks.
Maritime Commander Australia visited Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in April 1999.
A delegation of Vietnamese Senior Colonels visited Australia in October 1999.
A delegation of military journalists from the General Political Department's "People's Army" Newspaper visited Australia and various Defence establishments in June 2001.
Chief of Army visited Hanoi in September 2001.
Vietnamese People’s Army Chief of General Staff visited 2003.
The Assistant Minister for Defence visited Hanoi in July 2003.
Vietnamese Defence Minister General Pham Van Tra visit Australia March 2004.
Chief of Airforce visited Hanoi, Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City in February 2005.
Australian Defence Minister, Senator Robert Hill, visited Hanoi April 2005.

Lower-Level Exchanges

These are ongoing and occur at various levels.

An annual visit by current Australian military language students.
Australian Defence College (ADC) visited Vietnam in October 1999.
39 cadets and staff of the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) conducted a Battlefield Tour of Vietnam in September 2000.
39 cadets and staff of the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) conducted a Battlefield Tour of Vietnam in September 2001.
Australian Defence Force Soccer Team tour in September 2002 of Vietnam and Laos comprising of four matches against Vietnamese Army Teams and two matches against Laos Army teams.

Ship Visits

A Number of Royal Australian Navy (RAN) vessels have visited Saigon Port since April 1999.

HMAS PERTH and HMAS ARUNTA conducted the first ever goodwill visit to SRV in April 1999.
HMAS ANZAC visited Ho Chi Minh City in May 2000 to coincide with celebrations to open the AusAID My Tuan Bridge project on the Mekong River.
HMAS Adelaide visited Ho Chi Minh City in September 2002.
HMAS Success visited Ho Chi Minh City in July 2003.
HMAS Tobruk and HMAS Arunta visited Ho Chi Minh City in October 2003.
HMAS Diamantina and HMAS Huon visited Ho Chi Minh City in May 2004.

Training in Australia

Training opportunities in Australia broaden the relationship

41 Vietnamese officers are or have studied at Masters level at Australian universities. This is an ongoing commitment with about 10 – 12 officers receiving Defence scholarships each year.
VPA officers attended various seminars and courses in Australia, including ARF seminars, Defence Management Seminars, RAN Seapower Centre Conferences, a seminar on Common Training, Tactics and procedures, a conference on the Revolution in Military Affairs, the CDF Regional Conference, ADFWC Peacekeeping Seminar, DSTO Mine Countermeasures Conference, Defence Intelligence Research and Analysis Course, Standard Combat Survivability Course, Civil Military Cooperation Course, Maritime Air Surveillance Course, Maritime Law and Security Seminar, Emergency Management Seminar.
The first meeting of the Vietnam-Australia Defence Alumni was held in Hanoi in January 2001 and attended by 50 officers (simultaneously with the Graduation Ceremony for the first ADF English course at Unit 871).
The first Vietnam-Australia Defence Cooperation (DC) talks were held in Hanoi in April 2001. Both sides agreed to convene bilateral DC talks annually.
To date a total of 215 VPA personnel have conducted training through DITC.

Training in Vietnam

Australia has also delivered training in Vietnam

In September 2000, a professor of economics and management delivered a seminar in Hanoi titled "Defence Economic Trends in the Asia-Pacific Region" to a group of Vietnamese defence economists.
In November 2000, Australia delivered a Maritime Studies Seminar in Hanoi through experts from the RAN Seapower Centre, the University of Wollongong and the University of Tasmania.
Exercise Water Dragon with ARA Engineers instructed Vietnamese personnel in small boat handling and maintenance to assist VN with conduct of flood rescue operations.

Humanitarian Aid

The ADF has delivered humanitarian aid to Mekong flood victims

In October 2000, a RAAF C-130 Hercules transport aircraft delivered 10 tonnes of Australian Red Cross flood relief supplies to victims of Mekong Delta flooding.
Australian Army instructors delivered four courses in Small Craft Handling and Outboard Motor Repair and Maintenance to Red Cross workers and VPA personnel in the Mekong Delta and Hue in June 2001.