Australia has been involved in peacekeeping activities for the United Nations since its inception in 1945. It is part of the United Nations Charter that nations accept responsibility for ‘collective security’.
The first contribution was four military observers in Indonesia in 1947, and, as at 2000 Australians had been part of 34 official UN peace-keeping operations around the world - ranging from combat in Korea, to two military observers in Yemen in 1963.