11/06/2026
Thirty years ago tonight, these eighteen Australians departed on a training exercise and never came home.
On 12 June 1996, two Black Hawk helicopters collided at the High Range Training Area near Townsville during a night counter-terrorism exercise. Eighteen soldiers and aircrew from the 5th Aviation Regiment and the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) were killed. Twelve more were seriously injured.
They weren't on a battlefield. They were training and doing the hard, dangerous, demanding work that keeps Australia safe. That is what defending this country costs. It is a cost paid first by the member in uniform, away from home, in conditions most Australians will never experience. And when the worst happens, it is a cost that lands, with brutal permanence, on the families who loved them.
We owe it to those eighteen men, and to every family who has carried that weight, to ensure their sacrifice is properly recognised.
Government has been advocating for the introduction of a Killed-in-Service clasp since 2018 when we learned of the initiative by veterans who were mates of those lost 30 years ago.
Medals tell the story of a person's service over the years; campaigns, deployments, achievements, length of service etc. So if someone breathes their final breath in service to Australia, that story must also be told on their medals. The absence of that recognition is a gap in how we honour our people.
The recent death of WO2 Lachlan Muddle, SASR, in a parachuting accident is the latest reminder of that sacrifice and here in Darwin, we remember PTE Scotty Palmer, 2nd Commando Regiment, who was killed in Afghanistan on 21 June 2010. Three years later on 22 June 2013, another Commando CPL Cameron Baird MG VC was killed. These are but a few of the Australians that have paid the ultimate sacrifice in modern times.
In response to a campaign, Defence Honours and Awards Tribunal recommended the introduction of a Memorial Clasp. That recommendation is being acted upon and when it is introduced, will apply retrospectively. The families of those eighteen men and the families of every Australian who dies in uniform, deserve nothing less.
To the families of the eighteen: your loss has never been forgotten. Thirty years on we honour their sacrifice and continue their work to keep Australia safe.
Lest We Forget.
