(Transcript from World News Radio)
Border protection authorities are still assessing whether lapses in judgment contributed to the Australia's repeated incursions into Indonesian waters.
The breaches occurred under the Abbott government's Operation Sovereign Borders between December 2013 and January 2014.
As Thea Cowie reports, the incursions have been the subject today of a Senate committee inquiry.In February a Customs and Defence review concluded the Australian Navy breached Indonesia's territorial waters on several occasions because crew failed to accurately calculate Indonesia's maritime borders.
Speaking at a Senate Committee more than a month later, Customs chief Michael Pezzullo wouldn't reveal if any of the breaches were due to the unprofessional actions of individuals.
"Inquiries are underway in relation to the professional conduct of relevant personnel. To preserve the integrity of these inquiries, officials do not propose to comment further about the actions of individual officers at this stage."
The Senate committee has heard that no boats have crossed into Indonesian territorial waters since mid-January.
It has also heard that as a result of the territorial breaches, revisions are being made to maps, and operational and planning documents.
Revised training programs will include sessions on the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea.
Commander of Border Protection Command, Rear Admiral Michael Noonan, has told the inquiry calculating Indonesia's maritime borders is complicated and mistakes have occurred.
"The baseline follows the archipelagic baseline principles which come under Article 46 of the UN Convention for the Law of the Sea and it currently consists of 195 coordinate base points located at the edge of the archipelago which serve as the baseline coordinates."
Labor Senator Stephen Conroy was incredulous, referring to his personal Global Positioning System.
"On my Garmin on my bike I can literally transmit to a website my position and if I give the password to you, you can follow me as I go down the street. Now I can't believe anyone in the world would want to follow me, you can do it on a iPhone // I think you've uploaded the app // Well I can offer you the name of the app if it were to help in the future but let's not engage in sophistry here. You know within a reasonable degree of distance, accuracy, GPS coordinates, longditude, latitude where your assets are placed."
Authorities however have argued that some vessels transmit their location at intervals, and tracking devices may be turned off to avoid detection in certain circumstances.
Non-government Senators have also been surprised by admissions some vessels being used in Operation Sovereign Borders rely on paper maps, not G-P-S.
But Customs chief Michael Pezzullo says that's not necessarily a weakness.
"Even in the world of GPS, Senator, an infantry soldier with a compass and a paper map can still do a lot of damage."
Operation Sovereign Borders commander Lieutenant General Angus Campbell has been questioned about reports that shots have been fired during boat tow-backs or turn-backs.
He's told the committee he's not aware of this occurring.
Officials have refused to confirm or deny whether Australian vessels have turned their lights off between sunset and sunrise during operations - something which could breach the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea.
