[6] During a Senate Estimates hearing in October 2021, Department of Defence officials stated that the government had decided instead to purchase the ship from overseas rather than build it in Australia.

[10] In September 2022, the Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, stated that the tasks Reliant is capable of included "marine survey, delivering heavy equipment, search and rescue training, and disaster relief and recovery".

She also cannot embark a helicopter due to the absence of a hangar or aviation fuel storage facilities, and there is no direct connection between the cargo deck and helipad.

The Australian Defence Magazine has written that these missing features are "widely seen as crucial for successful HADR [humanitarian assistance and disaster relief] operations, as they enable infrastructure independent transport".

[9] An article by the retired RAN officer Bob Moyse published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute stated that "the Reliant is likely to be of limited use for disaster relief" due to these issues.

While the goals of the project have not been announced, the Australian Defence Magazine stated that they may include improvements to her helicopter and landing craft capabilities and possibly fitting the ship with small calibre weapons.

[9] Moyse argued that these upgrades would not make Reliant fit for her intended purpose, as she can only enter deep ports and cargo would need to be loaded onto the landing craft with the ship's crane, which is an not an efficient approach.

[14] During its voyage to Australia, Reliant supported RAN activities in Fiji and patrolled the exclusive economic zones of the Cook Islands and Samoa.