Hi Gina,
The earliest official MT disruptive pattern camouflage instructions (that I have a copy of) that were issued in Australia for AMF (as opposed to AIF headed for overseas theatres, which date much earlier) are dated 2 January 1942, but advance copies had already been distributed by late December 41. The instruction applied to all Army vehicles, regardless of origin or current paintwork. Similar instructions were issued by RAAF and RAN for MT camouflage. They are all based upon a collaboration between the Dept of Home Security's Technical Director of Camouflage (Prof Dakin), the three services, and State Camouflage Committees.
The early period (Dec 41 to mid-42) saw quite a panic to apply camouflage 'without delay' because of the fear of Japanese attack. It all seems a bit over the top in hindsight, but was real enough to those on the ground at the time: the Japanese juggernaught seemed unstoppable. Things had settled down a bit by the time your tank arrived and was cam painted.
Much of the camo information and correspondence at NAA has not been digitised as it was opened many years ago, long before Recordsearch came into being. If copies are asked for again (and paid for, no doubt) then a digitised copy will become accessible via the website.
Mike
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