Australia will examine how society can prepare for the impacts of war for the first time since World War II amid growing concern over escalating regional tensions.
A new defence parliamentary committee will probe how goods and services - such as fuel - can flow during a crisis.
The federal inquiry will also look at how civil society including businesses and the private sector could contribute to the nation's security.
Speaking on Thursday in Darwin at the end of military Exercise Pitch Black, Defence Minister Richard Marles said the inquiry would investigate civil defence preparedness, which other nations already do.
"It's been observed that really this is not something that we have done in Australia, probably since the Second World War," he told reporters.
"It is simply a prudent means by which we think about the way in which our civilian economy, our private economy, would interact with the defence force in the event of any contingency.
"We want to look at what world's best practice is, see how we can walk down this path better."
Asked how likely a regional conflict within a decade will be, Mr Marles said Australia was seeking to build deterrence to prevent any future conflict.
"I feel confident that, with the expenditure that we are providing to our own defence force, and the way that we are working with countries in our region and around the world ... we are able to build deterrence, which provides for a peaceful and stable Indo-Pacific," he said.
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Defence does not include politicians from the crossbench or minor parties.
It said it would consider whole-of-nation support for national defence, continuity of government, and the availability of essential goods and services during times of crisis or conflict.
Exercise Pitch Black is one of the world's largest international air combat exercises, which includes aircraft and personnel from 21 nations.
Mr Marles used the end of the combat exercise to announce the federal government would spend more than $700 million to equip Australia's air force with long-range air-to-air missiles.
