The image of the "drunken sailor" will be targeted by the Navy with a crackdown on excessive alcohol consumption during shore leave.
Defence has confirmed the latest fleet directive follows "recent incidents involving a small number of Navy personnel in overseas ports".
"The directive covers leave as well as limits to alcohol consumption, and expected standards of behaviour, shore patrols and buddy systems," the Defence Department said in a statement to the ABC.
"Existing policies and expected behaviours have been reinforced and all fleet units have been reminded of Navy's representational responsibilities in foreign and domestic ports."
Already sailors are instructed not to wander alone in foreign ports and are expected to comply with local drinking laws.
Commanding officers will also be given new powers to help reduce the risk of alcohol-related incidents during shore leave.
A Navy source has told the ABC the directive will "severely restrict" sailors and will include curfews and mandatory breath testing, but Defence won't confirm if those measures are part of the crackdown.
Defence says the crackdown will apply to Naval personnel of all ranks and will be reviewed in September.
The measures will "vary from port to port" with considerations made for "safety and security" as well as "local sensitivities and operational requirements".
In 2016 the Commander of one of the Navy's largest ships was stood aside following a complaint from a female officer during a Malaysian port visit.
During the same year a sailor died while on shore leave in Oman with his death later linked to dangerous bodybuilding supplements.
