Foreign relations of Australia

Foreign relations of Australia are influenced by its position as a leading trading nation and as a significant donor of humanitarian aid. Australia's foreign policy is guided by a commitment to multilateralism and regionalism, as well as to build strong bilateral relations with its allies. Key concerns include free trade, terrorism, refugees, economic co-operation with Asia and stability in the Indo-Pacific. Australia is active in the United Nations and the Commonwealth of Nations. Given its history of starting and supporting important regional and global initiatives, it has been described as a regional middle power par excellence.
It maintains significant ties with ASEAN and has become steadfastly allied with New Zealand, through long-standing ties dating back to the 1800s. The country also has a longstanding alliance with the United States of America. Over recent decades Australia has sought to strengthen its relationship with Asian countries, with this becoming the focus of the country's network of diplomatic missions. In 2021, Australia signed a significant security partnership with the United Kingdom and the United States of America (AUKUS) aimed at upholding security in the Indo-Pacific region.
The Department of External Affairs was one of the inaugural departments created upon the federation of the Australian colonies in 1901, but largely remained an appendage of the Prime Minister's Department. Outside of the prime minister, the role of Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (established in 1910) remained the most significant conduit for Australian foreign relations, with its significance emphasisesd that the first three appointees were former prime ministers. It has been suggested that, for Australia's early governments, foreign policy meant "relations with London on matters of imperial foreign policy on which Australia might have an interest".
Australia's first prime minister Edmund Barton was in favour of a uniform foreign policy for the British Empire, suggesting Australia could have no "foreign policy of its own" but expected that the British government would defer to the Australian perspective for "regional" imperial policy. Barton's successor Alfred Deakin also repeatedly lobbied the British government for greater consultation on imperial foreign policy and suggested the establishment of an imperial department of state to coordinate policy, as part of his broader support for an Imperial Federation. Deakin took some of the first steps towards diplomatic independence by dealing directly with the Japanese consul-general, for which he was reminded by the Colonial Office that it "expected Australia to conduct any dealings with a foreign power through London". He also dealt directly with the U.S. consul in Sydney to engineer the visit of the Great White Fleet in 1908. His actions "set a precedent for unilateralism" in foreign policy that was followed by his immediate successors as prime minister, although with a continued reliance on the British diplomatic service and policy-making apparatus and no efforts to develop Australian equivalents.
World War I brought about an increase in direct Australian engagement with govermnents outside the British Empire, prompted by strategic concerns including the fate of German territories in the Pacific captured by Australian troops during the war. Prime Minister Billy Hughes visited the United States in 1918 and "in a series of meetings and speeches, called on the US to cooperate with Australia in ensuring postwar security in the Far East". At the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, Hughes led an Australian section within the British delegation and co-signed the Treaty of Versailles on behalf of Australia, as with other British dominions. Hughes lobbied powerfully for Australian interests at the conference, including the granting of League of Nations mandates over the former German New Guinea and Nauru and opposition to Japan's Racial Equality Proposal to protect the White Australia policy.
The 1920s marked "the genesis of a distinct Australian foreign policy", largely in response to changing power dynamics and the decline in British influence in the Pacific following the Washington Naval Conference of 1922 influence. Australia continued continued to rely on "the UK and its imperial machinery for diplomatic representation and economic and material security". Following the 1923 Imperial Conference, attempts to formulate a uniform imperial foreign policy were largely abandoned in favour of a system of dominion ratification of British decisions. Governmental interest in foreign policy declined during the Great Depression as the Scullin government concentrated on internal economic matters. In 1929, internationalist Frederic Eggleston complained to a Senate committee that "no parliament which is responsible for its own foreign policy has less discussion on foreign affairs than does the Australian Parliament".
While yet to exchange formal diplomatic representatives, Australia made a number of "quasi-diplomatic" appointments in the post-war period, who functioned as official representatives of the Australian government but held no diplomatic rank. These included appointment of Henry Braddon to the United States in 1918 with the title of "commissioner" and the appointment of Clive Voss as "commercial agent" in France in 1919. In 1921, Australia appointed its first official representative in Asia, with the appointment of Edward S. Little as trade commissioner to China, based in Shanghai. Senator Thomas Bakhap undertook a trade mission to China in 1922 at the instigation of Hughes, and in the same year Egbert Sheaf was appointed as a trade commissioner to "the East", based in Singapore. The initial trade commissioner service was partially funded by state governments and ultimately failed due to a lack of support from Prime Minister Stanley Bruce and state premiers.
The appointment of the Lyons government in 1932 marked a renewed interest in foreign policy, complemented by the establishment of foreign policy departments at universities and non-governmental advisory bodies like the Australian Institute of International Affairs. Prime Minister Joseph Lyons took a keen interest in foreign relations and exerted significant influence over the government's foreign policy. He authorised three "Pacific initiatives" as a sign of greater Australian interest in the Asia-Pacific. The first was the Australian Eastern Mission of 1934, led by deputy prime minister John Latham, which visited seven Asian countries and has been identified as a milestone in the early development of Australian foreign policy. The second initiative was the appointment in 1935 of Australian representatives in China, the Dutch East Indies, Japan, and United States – albeit below the rank of ambassador – where previously Australia's interests had been represented solely by British officials. The third was Lyons's "Pacific Pact" proposal, which envisioned a non-aggression pact between the major powers in the Pacific. Although he championed the pact at the 1937 Imperial Conference, discussions failed to progress. In Bird's opinion, "the Lyons years should thus be seen as a part of the evolution of Australian external policy from dependency towards autonomy […] it is perhaps the continuation and acceleration of the process of transition for which Lyons as Prime Minister ought to be best remembered".
The first accredited diplomat sent to a foreign country was Richard Casey, appointed as the first Minister to the United States in January 1940. This was followed shortly after by the arrival of the first Australian high commissioner to Canada, and by appointments of Ministers to Japan in 1940 and China in 1941. With the entry of Japan into the war in December 1941 and the consequent heightened vulnerability of Australia to attack, a critical decision was made by the Curtin Government to more closely seek the military protection of the United States. Since that time, United States has been the most important security ally. The close security relationship with the United States was formalized in 1951 by the Australia, New Zealand, United States Security (ANZUS) Treaty which remains the cornerstone of Australian security arrangements.
In parallel with the evolution of the British Empire to the Commonwealth of Nations, Australia progressively took responsibility for fully managing its foreign relations with other states. Australia concluded an agreement in 1944 with New Zealand dealing with the security, welfare, and advancement of the people of the dependent territories of the Pacific (the ANZAC pact). Australia was one of the founders of the United Nations (1945) and the South Pacific Commission (1947), and in 1950, it proposed the Colombo Plan to assist developing countries in Asia. After the war, Australia played a role in the Far Eastern Commission in Japan and supported Indonesian independence during that country's revolt against the Dutch (1945–49).
As the Cold War deepened, Australia aligned itself fully with the Western Powers. In addition to contributing to UN forces in the Korean War – it was the first country to announce it would do so after the United States – Australia sent troops to assist in putting down the communist revolt in Malaya in 1948–60 and later to combat the Indonesian-supported invasion of Sarawak in 1963–65. Australia sent troops to repel communism and assist South Vietnamese and American forces in the Vietnam War, in a move that stirred up antiwar activism at home. Australia has been active in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, and in the Australia – New Zealand – United Kingdom agreement and the Five Power Defence Arrangement—successive arrangements with Britain and New Zealand to ensure the security of Singapore and Malaysia.
After the end of the Cold War, Australia remained an important contributor to UN peacekeeping missions and to other multilateral security missions, often in alliance with the United States. Notably, it joined coalition forces in the Persian Gulf War in 1991, the War in Afghanistan (2001-2021), the Iraq War of 2003–2011 and the War in Iraq (2013-2017). In 1999 Australian peace keeping forces intervened in East Timor following its referendum to secede from Indonesia. In 2006 Australia sent a contingent of Australian troops to the state to assist in the 2006 East Timor crisis. Australia has also most recently led security assistance, peacekeeping and policing missions elsewhere in its neighbourhood, including in the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Tonga.
In the late 20th Century and early 21st Century, a new element in Australia's foreign relations was the growing relationship with the People's Republic of China. After the establishment of diplomatic relations in December 1972, Sino-Australian relations grew rapidly, to a point where China became Australia's main trading partner and extensive official and people-to-people links were well established. In the first 15 years of the 21st Century, Australia maintained privileged relations with both the United States and China. Since 2017, Sino-Australian relations have deteriorated dramatically, as a result of Australian criticism of policies and actions taken under General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping. This has strongly influenced recent Australian bilateral and multi-lateral engagements such as the Pacific Step-Up with Pacific Island states, the development of comprehensive strategic partnerships with a number of regional states, and the pursuit of alliances directed at countering Chinese predominance in the Indo-Pacific region. Since 2017, existing security arrangements have been augmented by a revived Quadrilateral Security Dialogue involving India, Japan and United States, the 2021 AUKUS security partnership with the United States and United Kingdom and the 2022 Australia-Japan Reciprocal Access Agreement, which provides for closer Australian-Japanese cooperation on defence and humanitarian operations.
One of the drafters of the UN Charter, Australia has given firm support to the United Nations system. Australia held the first Presidency of the Security Council in 1946 and provided the first military observers under UN auspices a year later, to Indonesia. It has been a member of the Security Council a further four times, in 1956–57, 1973–74, 1986–87 and 2013–14. It has been regularly elected a member of the Economic and Social Council most recently for 2020–22, a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2018–20 and its predecessor the UN Commission on Human Rights in the 1990s. Australia takes a prominent part in many other UN activities, including peacekeeping, disarmament negotiations, and narcotics control. In September 1999, acting under a UN Security Council mandate, Australia led an international coalition to restore order in East Timor upon Indonesia's withdrawal from that territory. Australia has also been closely engaged in international development cooperation and humanitarian assistance through the Specialized agencies, Funds and Programmes and Regional Commissions of the United Nations and major International Financial Institutions, in particular the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
Australia is a member of the G20, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the APEC forum. It is active in meetings of the Commonwealth Heads of Government, the Pacific Islands Forum and other Pacific Islands regional organizations and the Indian Ocean Rim Association. It has been a leader in the Cairns Group – countries pressing for agricultural trade reform in the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations. Australia is also a member of MIKTA, an informal and diverse middle power partnership between Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey and Australia, led by its foreign ministers, which seeks to promote an effective, rules-based global order.
Australia has devoted particular attention in the early 21st century to promoting regional architecture centred around the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to support dialogue on political, security and economic challenges in the Indo-Pacific region. Australia is an active participant in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and the ASEAN sponsored East Asia Summit. Australia's place at the 2005 inaugural summit was only secured after it agreed to reverse its policy and accede to ASEAN's Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia. Australia had been reluctant to sign the treaty out of concerns regarding how it would affect Australia's obligation under other treaty arrangements including ANZUS.
Comprehensive strategic partnerships are broad, high level relationships which have increasingly been formalized in the Asia-Pacific region under this description since the early 21st century. They are arrangements which, in general, convey a sense of mutual value, strategic alignment and positive intent to further strengthen ties. They establish the framework for an intensified level of engagement across governments and indicate particularly close bilateral relations. Australia has a formal comprehensive strategic partnership with the following countries and multi-national organizations:
In 2014, the Australian Prime Minister and Chinese President agreed to describe the relationship as a "comprehensive strategic partnership", and this helped facilitate an extensive program of engagement. This partnership went into dormancy, particularly from 2020, but is being gradually revived with the improvement of relations since 2023.
Overall Australia's largest trading partners are the United States, South Korea, Japan, China, and the United Kingdom. Australia currently has bilateral Free Trade Agreements with New Zealand, the United States, Thailand and Singapore as of 2007 and the United Kingdom as of 2021. As well as this, Australia is in the process undertaking studies on Free Trade Agreements with ASEAN, China, Chile, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
To bolster its foreign policy, Australia maintains a very well-equipped military. According to SIPRI, Australia is the eight largest importer of major weapons in the world.The US supplied 80 per cent of Australia's imports and Spain 15 per cent. All armed services have received new major arms in 2014–18, but mainly aircraft and ships. The F-35 combat aircraft and antisubmarine warfare aircraft from the USA made up 53 per cent of Australian arms imports in 2014–18, while ships from Spain accounted for 29 per cent.
Australia is modernising its armed forces but also acquiring weapons that significantly increase its long-range capabilities. Among the weapons imported in 2010–14 were 5 tanker aircraft and the first of 2 amphibious assault ships from Spain, along with 2 large transport aircraft and 4 airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft from the USA. Australia also received 26 combat aircraft from the US, with 82 more on order (see box 3), as well as 8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft from the US and 3 Hobart destroyers from Spain.
In 2021, after Australia ended its 20-year military mission in Afghanistan, the defence officials held formal talks on strengthening military ties with the United Arab Emirates. However, the human rights groups said that it was "very concerning" to witness, as the Emirates was accused of carrying out "unlawful attacks" in war-torn nations like Libya and Yemen.
In contrast to 2014-18, the period from 2019-23 saw a 21 per cent decline in Australia's major arms imports. However, in December 2021, Australia signed a defence procurement deal with South Korea worth $1billion AUD (US$720 million) for modern artillery, supply trucks and radars supplied by South Korean defense company Hanwha. The South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison met for the signing of the agreement and additionally announced they were formally upgrading the Australian-South Korean relationship to a "comprehensive strategic partnership." Moreover, in 2023 Australia reached an agreement with the UK and the USA to import at least six nuclear-powered submarines.
According to the Australian think tank Lowy Institute, Australia is the Pacific region's largest development partner, disbursing A$17 billion worth of international aid between 2008 and 2021, accounting for 40% of the region's overseas development finance (ODF). Australian international aid in the Pacific exceeded other regional partners including the Asian Development Bank, China, New Zealand and Japan. Between 2019 and 2021, Australian's overseas development finance in the Pacific rose from A$1.34 billion in 2019 to A$1.89 billion in 2021.
In May 2024, RNZ reported that the Albanese Government had slightly increased Australia's foreign aid budget by four percent, bringing its total 2024–2025 aid o A$4.961 billion budget. In August 2023, the Government had released its new international development strategy, which promised new country, gender, disability and humanitarian aid strategies.
As of 2011, Australia had established formal diplomatic relations with all members of the United Nations as well as the Holy See, Kosovo, Cook Islands and (in 2014) Niue. In many cases, diplomatic relations are maintained on a non-resident basis, with the Australian ambassador or high commissioner based in another country. Since 2012, diplomatic relations have been effectively suspended with the Syrian Arab Republic, with no diplomatic accreditation by either country maintained, but consular relations continue. In the case of Afghanistan, following the Taliban takeover in 2021, diplomatic relations are in an ambiguous status with Australia "temporarily" closing its embassy in Kabul and not recognizing the Islamic Emirate government but maintaining the credentials of the embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Canberra. A number of Canadian missions provide consular assistance to Australians in countries in Africa where Australia does not maintain an office (and Australia reciprocates this arrangement for Canada in some other countries) through the Canada-Australia Consular Services Sharing Agreement.
Due to the One China Policy of the People's Republic of China, the Australian Office in Taiwan (formerly the Australian Commerce and Industry Office) unofficially represents Australia's interest in Taiwan, serving a function similar to other Australian Consulates.
List of countries which Australia maintains diplomatic relations with:
Australia is a member of the Pacific Islands Forum and other regional organisations. As part of its Pacific Step-Up initiative announced in 2016 Australia has uniquely established resident High Commissions and embassies in all independent and self governing members of the Pacific Islands Forum as well as consulates-general in New Caledonia and French Polynesia. Australia provides aid to many of its developing Pacific Islands neighbours, and to Papua New Guinea. For decades, it has been the largest donor of aid to the Oceania region. China and New Zealand, the next biggest donors, donated only one sixth of Australia's aid during the 2010s.
Since the end of the Cold War, the understanding from the United States has been that Australia and New Zealand would assume responsibility for the security of much of the Oceania region, whom they already share pre-existing cultural and economic ties to.
Australia's approach to the Pacific has included frequent references to what it has perceived as an "Arc of Instability" among its island neighbours. In August 2006 Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson stated to the Australian Parliament:
As from early 2008, the Australian government led by Kevin Rudd began what it called a "new approach" to relations between Australia and the Pacific, appointing a Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, Duncan Kerr. In February, Kerr and fellow Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Bob McMullan visited Samoa, Tonga and Kiribati in February, and stated:
Richard Marles, the deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party, has strongly advocated for Australia to prioritize its role in the Pacific. In 2021, he wrote a book titled Tides that bind: Australia in the Pacific, and claimed in an interview that, "By any measure, we are huge part of the Pacific. We're the largest donor into the Pacific, we've got the biggest diplomatic footprint in the Pacific, we've got the most development resources in the Pacific of any country. For most of the Pacific, we're the most important bilateral relationship they have, more important than the United States, more important than China."