Australia became a Dialogue Partner of ASEAN in 1974. Relations were characterized by ASEAN’s thrust to access Australia’s market in light of its growing export industries for manufactured goods. This transformation in ASEAN-Australia relations brought about an agreement during the 14th ASEAN-Australia Forum in 1991 to expand the theme of cooperation to cover areas of mutual interest and benefit, encompassing education, environment, telecommunications and science and technology. The 15th Forum in 1993 saw the inclusion of political and security issues as topics for discussion. 

Institutional Framework 

Australia participates in a series of consultative meetings with ASEAN which includes the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), ASEAN-Australia Forum, the Post Ministerial Conferences (PMC) 9+1 and 9+10, Joint Planning Committee (JPC) Meeting, ASEAN-Australia Economic Programme (AAECP) and ASEAN-Australia Business Council (AABC). The ASEAN-Canberra Committee Meeting also assists in conducting and maintaining the dialogue with Australia. 

Economic Cooperation 

The trade relationship between ASEAN and Australia has also expanded steadily since the Memorandum of Understanding on ASEAN-Australia Trade Cooperation was signed in 1976. ASEAN exports to Australia reached more than US$19 billion in 2005 while ASEAN imports from Australia was lower at US$11 billion, resulting in a trade imbalance of US$8 billion in favor of ASEAN. 
Negotiations are on-going for a possible linkage between the ASEAN’s Free Trade Area (AFTA) and the Australia New Zealand Closer Economic Relations (CER), the goal of which is to further increase the size of the market as well as enhancing the complementarities between ASEAN and Australian economies. 

Development Cooperation 

The ASEAN-Australia Economic Cooperation Programme (AAECP) served as the cornerstone for channeling Australian assistance for ASEAN projects and was the forerunner of the current Australia-ASEAN Development Cooperation (AADCP) that ran from 2002-2005. 
The 1st Phase of the AAECP, covering the period 1974-1989, assisted joint ASEAN-Australian projects involved in research and development of the food and agricultural sectors and the rapid economic growth experienced by most ASEAN countries. The Second Phase of the AAECP Phase II (1989-1994) was spent financing projects involving microelectronics, biotechnology, non-conventional energy research and marine science. The AAECP Phase III expanded opportunities through two cooperative mechanisms, i.e. the Projects Stream and the Linkages Stream, both of which contributed towards enhanced trade and investment links between ASEAN and Australia. 
Current ASEAN-Australia Relationship 

The A$45 million ASEAN-Australia Development Cooperation (AADCP) saw its first stages of implementation during the period 2002 to 2003, although a few projects in the fields of culture, social development and energy are still going-on 

The AADCP’s Regional Economic Policy Support Facility provides ASEAN with a range of priority regional policy research activities. The current research programme of the Facility addresses substantive and strategic policy issues ranging from developing indicators of ASEAN integration to studying options for managing revenue losses and other adjustment costs of CLMV countries in their participation in AFTA. The Facility supports policy needs for frontier integration areas such liberalization and facilitation of movement of individual service providers, as well as in preparing for an ASEAN open sky.

The Regional Partnerships Scheme (RPS) of the AADCP aims to support the implementation of a range of smaller scale regional development activities, which are to be developed by ASEAN and Australian entities, to be funded in rounds over a period of five years. The first and second meetings of the Joint Selection and Review Panel formalized the project selection guidelines for the RPS, which were subsequently endorsed by ASEAN and Australia. Three project proposals have been approved in principle for funding, such as (a) Eco-labels and certification in forestry; (b) Energy policy and systems analysis; and (c) Project design support program. 

The Program Stream, which forms the largest component of the AADCP, consists of two subprograms, namely “Strengthening ASEAN Economic Integration” and “Enhancing ASEAN Competitiveness.” Each component comprises of a series of smaller joint ASEAN-Australian activities contributing to the broader program objectives and implemented over periods longer than those of the other two components. Eleven projects have been identified for implementation under the Program Stream.

Joint Declaration on ASEAN-Australia Comprehensive Partnership

The ASEAN Foreign Ministers and the Australian Foreign Minister will sign the Joint Declaration on ASEAN-Australia Comprehensive Partnership at the 40th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting/Post Ministerial Conference on 1 August 2007. 

The Joint Declaration will serve to affirm ASEAN and Australia’s commitment to work towards enhancing relations by launching a partnership which encompass political and security cooperation, economic cooperation, socio-cultural cooperation and development cooperation. 

By political and security cooperation, the parties will agree to dialogue and support efforts towards building an ASEAN Security Community; promote closer cooperation through joint activities that will serve to prevent and combat transnational crimes; collaborate to address other crimes such as corruption, human smuggling and illegal activities with regards to natural resources; cooperate in curbing the proliferation of arms and weapons of mass destruction; strengthening and enhancing cooperation in other international and multilateral fora such as the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), East Asia Summit (EAS), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the United Nations. 

The parties likewise agree to enhance economic cooperation by supporting efforts towards the realization of the ASEAN Economic Community and facilitate the negotiations for the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA); create favourable business environments to foster more trade and investment; strengthen cooperation in multilateral trade frameworks such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), APEC and the EAS in support of the global trading system and the Doha Development Round; and, supporting the early accession of the Lao PDR to the WTO. 

The Joint Declaration also envisions increased cooperation in terms of socio-cultural goals, curbing the threat of emerging communicable and infectious diseases, disaster preparedness and emergency response, environmental conservation and sustainable natural resources management, science and technology, education, people to people contacts and the network of private sectors, civil societies, experts and scholars. The Partnership further commits to support the Vientiane Action Program (VAP) and the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) aimed at alleviating poverty, narrowing the development gap and promoting sustainable development in the ASEAN region. 

As an implementing and monitoring mechanism, a Plan of Action will be developed for the ASEAN-Australia Comprehensive Partnership in consultation with the parties’ relevant agencies and a report made on its progress at the next ASEAN-Australia Post Ministerial Conference.