[1] Police tactical groups are fundamental to the federal government's National Counter-Terrorism Plan (NCTP) to respond to major terrorist incidents in Australia.
State and territory police maintained 'tactical' or 'emergency' squads consisting of officers trained to use specialist equipment and weapons as far back as 1945, although known by varying names.
[5][6] The 1978 Sydney Hilton bombing, where a CHOGM event was being conducted at that time, saw the formation of the Standing Advisory Committee on Commonwealth and State Co-operation for Protection Against Violence (SAC-PAV).
SAC-PAV provided national consistency across all jurisdictions and made several recommendations, including that all states and territories maintain a specialist police unit trained for counter-terrorist and hostage rescue situations.
This saw the formalisation of many state and territory tactical units with the standardisation of all police groups in respect to training, equipment and the desired level of response.
A PTG will participate in regular national counter-terrorist exercises (NATEXs), in which federal and state government agencies practise responses to potential terrorist threats and test the procedures and legislation for Australian Defence Force support to civilian authorities in the event of a terrorist attack.
[19] Sutton raised concerns that military-style training and collaboration with the ADF by police tactical groups could filter down to general duties officers.