The two countries has a long-standing institutional and people-to-people ties than any other Asian neighbour. Links between Australia and Malaysia can be traced since the 18th century, the Malays participated in the pearling industry off Australia's north coast in the 19th century where their descendants today form an integral part of Darwin’s multicultural society. During the World War II, Australian troops were involved in the Malayan Campaign where many of its surviving troops were captured by the Japanese Army and sent to Borneo in Batu Lintang camp and Sandakan camp where they were also forced to marches, which resulted in deaths of many Australian prisoners of war with only six of them survived to see the war ended and subsequent liberation of the Borneo Island by Australian reinforcements. Since then, Australian troops also involved in the Malayan War against the Communists, notably the Malayan Emergency and Second Malayan Emergency where they providing materials and equipments to Malayan security forces, as well in the Malaysia's operation against the Sarawak Communist Insurgency and Indonesia's military infiltration towards its soil prior to the formation of a larger federation that includes North Borneo and Sarawak. The formal relations between the two modern countries started in 1955.