The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) was a peacekeeping mission established in the early 1990s following the civil war which broke out in Cambodia after the collapse of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979. The Australian government had closely followed events in Cambodia given the possible implications for regional security, while out of a desire to be seen as a good international citizen it had also invested heavily diplomatically in order to push the parties towards a peace agreement. In August 1989 the UN attempted to broker a peace agreement between the warring factions, and included amongst the reconnaissance party were two Australian officers tasked with laying the groundwork for a monitoring force should it be deployed. However after the collapse of the peace eff