The call for an AUSMAT deployment may come at any time as a response to a sudden onset disaster, medical or humanitarian emergency, domestic or international. The activation of an AUSMAT is made when a request for assistance is received by the Australian Government from a local government authority for a domestic response or foreign government authority for an international response or in response to a World Health Organization (WHO) call out for Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs). All international AUSMAT responses require final approval to be given by the Australian Foreign Minister for deployment. Upon request for international assistance, approvals and requests to states and territories are coordinated through the Health National Health Emergency Management Sub-Committee (NHEMS) and Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) for representatives and collective Chief Health Officer (CHO) considerations. Australian Government Department Health, National Emergency Management Australia (NEMA), Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), and DFAT Post (in country) and NCCTRC will coordinate as required to plan and deliver an appropriate and timely AUSMAT response. Domestic deployments are coordinated through Australian Government Department of Health, NHEMS, AHPPC, NCCTRC and NEMA for formal tasking under emergency response plans. If an AUSMAT deployment is endorsed by the AHPPC, the NCCTRC will be tasked to deploy AUSMAT trained team members, via their jurisdictional AUSMAT representatives and through expression of interest pathways for required skillsets. The period of deployment notice and deployment duration varies from possible deployment within 6 hours to within a few days, for a deployment period of up to four (4) weeks generally. The lead-time depends on the urgency of the request and response requirements.  Typically, AUSMAT deployments are for up to 14 days in country however, they can be longer depending on the circumstances and specific requirements.  These details will be included in the deployment Expression of Interest and communicated by your jurisdiction and NCCTRC. Recent COVID related responses have been of longer duration.