Lavarack Barracks (ICAO: YLVK) is a major Australian Army base located in the suburb of Murray in the City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia.

On 26 November 1964, the Minister for the Army, AJ Forbes, announced to Townsville’s civilian community on live television that construction on a new base among the northern slopes of Mount Stuart would soon begin.

Northern Australia historian Patrick White has suggested that the project to establish a new military base in Townsville resulted from a series of rapid decisions.

Australia's Government scrambled to pull together its military resources and envisaged a long campaign in support of American initiatives to halt the spread of communism in Southeast Asia.

A new base in Australia's north had strategic appeal; the opportunity to train in terrain similar to that found in Southeast Asia and an increased efficiency to deploy troops to the region.