Australian Defence Trade Controls Act 2012

Controls the export and supply of defence and strategic goods and technology from Australia.

22

Rules extracted

140

Obligations decomposed

6.4x

Avg obligations per rule

🇦🇺 Australia

Jurisdiction

About this regulation

The Defence Trade Controls Act 2012 establishes Australia's export control regime for defence and strategic goods and technology. It creates offences for the unlicensed supply of DSGL goods and technology, regulates brokering of controlled items, controls intangible supply (deemed exports) such as electronic transmission of controlled technology, and implements the Defence Trade Cooperation Treaty with the United States. The Act is central to Australia's AUKUS obligations and interoperability with Five Eyes export control regimes. Amended by the Defence Trade Controls Amendment Act 2024.

What AuditDSS covers

Source

1

Regulation

Extracted

22

Rules

Decomposed

140

Obligations

6.4x

Decomposition ratio

Each rule is decomposed into an average of 6.4 atomic obligations — the smallest testable units that can be independently violated.

Fully extracted & scored

All 140 obligations have been decomposed, titled, risk-scored, and embedded for semantic matching.

Risk scoring

Every obligation in DTCA is scored across independent risk dimensions:

W

Obligation Weight

How critical within the regulatory framework

L

Violation Likelihood

How often breached in practice

E

Enforcement Evidence

Regulator enforcement history and penalties

C

Cascade Dependency

How many obligations depend on this one

Regulatory details

Full title
Australian Defence Trade Controls Act 2012
Regulatory body
Australian Department of Defence — Defence Export Controls
Jurisdiction
🇦🇺 Australia
Document type
act
Effective date
November 13, 2012
Issuing authority
Parliament of Australia
Official source
View source document ↗

Who this applies to

defence exporterstechnology suppliersbrokersresearch institutionsAUKUS partners

Key requirements

  • DSGL goods/technology export permits
  • brokering registration
  • intangible supply controls
  • record keeping
  • Defence Trade Cooperation Treaty compliance

Frequently asked questions about DTCA

What is DTCA?

The Defence Trade Controls Act 2012 establishes Australia's export control regime for defence and strategic goods and technology. It creates offences for the unlicensed supply of DSGL goods and technology, regulates brokering of controlled items, controls intangible supply (deemed exports) such as electronic transmission of controlled technology, and implements the Defence Trade Cooperation Treaty with the United States. The Act is central to Australia's AUKUS obligations and interoperability with Five Eyes export control regimes. Amended by the Defence Trade Controls Amendment Act 2024.

Who does DTCA apply to?

DTCA applies to defence exporters, technology suppliers, brokers, research institutions, AUKUS partners.

How many obligations does DTCA contain?

AuditDSS has decomposed DTCA into 140 atomic obligations from 22 rules. Each obligation is independently testable and risk-scored.

What are the key requirements of DTCA?

The key requirements include: DSGL goods/technology export permits, brokering registration, intangible supply controls, record keeping, Defence Trade Cooperation Treaty compliance.

How can I assess my DTCA compliance?

Upload your compliance policy to AuditDSS. The platform maps your document against all 140 DTCA obligations using deterministic AI scoring — not checklists or LLM summaries. You get a risk-scored gap analysis showing exactly which obligations are covered, partially covered, or missing.

Which jurisdiction enforces DTCA?

DTCA is enforced in Australia by Australian Department of Defence — Defence Export Controls.

When did DTCA come into effect?

DTCA became effective on November 13, 2012.

What industry does DTCA apply to?

DTCA is primarily relevant to the Defense & National Security industry. AuditDSS covers 69 regulations in this industry sector.

Build a DTCA compliance pack

Don't have a compliance policy yet? AuditDSS generates a complete compliance pack for DTCA — alone or combined with other regulations your business needs. Every clause is mapped to specific obligations.

Policy

High-level commitments and governance framework covering DTCA requirements.

Procedures

Step-by-step operational procedures to implement each policy commitment.

Forms & checklists

Ready-to-use forms, registers, and checklists for day-to-day compliance operations.

Multi-regulation

Combine DTCA with other regulations into a single unified compliance pack for your business.

Already have a policy? Assess it against DTCA

1

Upload your document

Upload your compliance policy, program manual, or operational document. AuditDSS accepts any text-based document.

2

AI maps against 140 obligations

Your document is scored against every obligation in DTCA. Each claim is mapped to the obligation tree and evaluated for coverage.

3

Risk-scored gap report

Receive every gap ranked by risk priority with remediation guidance, enforcement evidence, and cascade impact analysis.

Related regulations in Defense & National Security

Assess your DTCA compliance

Upload your document and get a risk-scored gap analysis against 140 DTCA obligations in under 5 minutes.