Delivering comprehensive cross-border Facilities Management (FM) for the Australian Defence Force: a Serco Story
Published: 11 Aug 2025
How do you overcome regional talent shortages to deliver complex logistical support in a highly regulated sector across more than 20 service lines – all while partnering across borders?
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) asked Serco, and we delivered. Enter MELABS – our cross-border Serco Middle East Logistics and Base Support Services team – a hybrid service model delivered in partnership by Serco Asia Pacific and Serco Middle East.
As a holistic solution created for the ADF that can scale with surge demands, Serco’s MELABS contract was first awarded in 2011, then renewed in 2018 and again in 2023. Serco supports the ADF in the Middle East across base operations and logistics support services, including:
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Fire and rescue;
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Catering;
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Infrastructure utilities management, facility project services, facilities maintenance, and pest control;
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Reception, accommodation management, laundry, cleaning, retail and gym; and
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Additional diverse support services to MELABS, including warehousing, waste management, ground refueling services provisions, movement coordination services, maintenance of ADF vehicles, procurement, asset hire, transport, and management services.
Proudly sharing a relationship of trust, transparency and innovative thinking with the ADF, over the course of the contract, Serco has achieved impressive milestones through a continued focus on quality, safety and understanding of the customer’s needs and requirements. To name just a few:
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Serco takes pride in being ISO 9001, ISO 22000 and HACCP certified, and maintaining these accreditations, as a testament to the excellence we deliver through our quality management system and food safety.
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Serco recently achieved three years or 3,000,000 hours of safe work with ZERO lost time injuries (LTI), coupled with ongoing high internal employee engagement results, as a reflection of our ongoing prioritisation of safety and wellbeing.
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At times feeding 1,000+ personnel up to four meals a day - with a zero major food safety incident track record in the past 13 years - appreciation letters and positive feedback consistently show that Serco’s catering services are regarded as one of the best catering facilities in the Middle East Region by many ADF and Coalition Force members.
At Serco, we take great pride in the hard work of our frontline and contract management staff, for whom delivering on contractual obligations is simply not enough – they are committed to going above and beyond when the need arises.
A standout example of the MELABS team demonstrating innovation, agility and exceptional adaptability in a complex operating environment, where things can change at a moment’s notice, is when the ADF took part in the largest humanitarian airlift operation in recent history. Titled Operation Neo, this project involved deploying aircraft and personnel to evacuate Australian nationals and approved foreign nationals from Kabul International Airport. During this operation, evacuees flew to Australia or New Zealand through Australia’s main operating base in the Middle East.
Serco was directly involved in the planning and execution of Operation Neo support activities at the base. Our team not only developed temporary accommodation space for evacuees, but went further, from delivering accommodation blocks to supplying beds, linen, cleaning activity, meals and maintenance in preparation for the arrival of evacuees. At their peak, evacuees numbered 3,000+ (not including ADF, Commonwealth staff and Coalition Forces personnel).
In support of Operation Neo, our facilities management team was proud to deliver well over the standard surge requirement required by our contract on significantly less than the specified notice. This monumental effort could only be achieved due to the incredible talent and strength of our people, and a truly collaborative and inclusive partnership with the Commonwealth ADF team.
Would you like to meet our people on the ground, making it all happen? We’re delighted to introduce you to Asghar Abbas and Prince Pullapalli, who are both exceptional leaders in the Serco MELABS (Middle East Logistics and Base Support Services) team.