Police tactical group

Police Tactical Group (PTG), formerly known as 'police assault group', is an Australian police unit part of the Federal government National Anti-Terrorism Plan which, since 1978, has required each state and territory police to maintain a specialised counter-terrorist and hostage rescue unit jointly funded by the federal government and respective state/territory governments.

The Australia-New Zealand Counter-Terrorism Committee (ANZCTC) defines a Police Tactical Group (PTG) as a highly trained police unit that tactically manages and resolves high-risk incidents, including terrorist incidents.

A PTG directly supports their respective state or territory police in high-risk incidents such as sieges with specialised tactical, negotiation, intelligence and command-support services which are beyond the scope and capability of police generally.

Various state and territory police maintained 'tactical' or 'emergency' squads known by varying names consisting of police trained to use specialist equipment and weapons as far back as 1945. These sections consisted mainly of detectives and had limited capability and funding. 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). Prior to this, Australia had no formal mechanisms to respond to terrorism. SACPAV 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. These units were initially known as a 'police assault group' in line with the Australian Defence Force nomenclature with their recently created (at the time) Tactical Assault Group. 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.

In 2001, SAC-PAV was renamed to the National Counter-Terrorism Committee and in 2012 with New Zealand entering to the Australia-New Zealand Counter-Terrorism Committee.

The primary providers of law enforcement in Australia are the state and territories. PTGs are police tactical units established to respond to high-risk situations which are beyond the scope or capacity of everyday policing. PTG officers directly support operational police in incidents such as sieges with specialist tactical, negotiation, intelligence and command support services. Each PTG conducts its own training, has the opportunity to train in inter-state courses and may train internationally.

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