2025-26 bilateral allocation [budget estimate]

$64.0 million

2025-26 total Australian ODA [budget estimate]

$123.1 million

2024-25 bilateral allocation [budget estimate]

$54.0 million

2024-25 total Australian ODA [budget estimate]

$123.1 million

2023-24 total Australian ODA [actual]

$171.2 million

Australia and Fiji have a strong and enduring partnership. Our objectives, principles and commitments are set out in the Fiji-Australia Vuvale Partnership. The first iteration of our Vuvale Partnership in 2019 committed to closer cooperation, consultation and friendship between our two nations. In response to changing priorities and challenges, Prime Ministers Albanese and Rabuka signed the renewed and elevated Vuvale Partnership on 18 October 2023.

Australia is Fiji's largest development partner and our support is long-term.  The Australia-Fiji Development Partnership Plan 2024–2028 (DPP) translates into action the development priorities Australia shares with Fiji. Our development partnership spans bilateral, regional and global programs aligned closely with the SDGs, particularly in health (SDG3), education (SDG4), gender equality, (SDG5), effective governance (SDG8), private sector development (SDG8) and climate action (SDG13). Australia will also provide humanitarian relief and support to Fiji in its recovery efforts following disasters, as well as support risk reduction and preparedness initiatives to improve resilience to future disasters. We will also continue to provide additional budget support to assist the Government of Fiji to bolster key reform initiatives and social protection schemes.

The DPP aligns with Australia's International Development Policy and replaces the previous Fiji COVID-19 Development Response Plan . The Vuvale Partnership and DPP will continue to be responsive to emerging priorities and issues and progress will be formally reviewed through Senior Officials' Meetings. Australia plans to undertake a comprehensive mid-cycle review of the DPP in 2026.

Joint Objectives of the Australia Fiji Development Partnership Plan

Our Vuvale Partnership sets out Australia and Fiji's agreed objectives, principles and commitments. The objectives and indicative outcomes from our Vuvale Partnership are reflected in the DPP which sets out how Australia intends to meet these commitments over the next four years.

Objective 1 – Strengthen our people-to-people links

Strong and dynamic people-to-people links are the bedrock of our partnership. This objective begins at the most senior levels of government, with frequent engagement between Ministers, senior officials and public institutions, including our parliaments. It also includes our communities, with more than 100,000 people in Australia identified as having Fijian heritage (the largest of any Pacific island country).

For more information on these programs see Strengthen our people-to-people links

Objective 2 – Deepen our economic relationship

Australia will continue to support priority fiscal and economic reforms, strengthen two-way trade and investment and ensure greater economic diversification.  Our efforts to improve women's participation and ensure the delivery of climate resilient, high-quality infrastructure will support economic growth.  

For more information on these programs see Deepen our economic relationship page.

Objective 3 – Enhance our security cooperation

Australia is committed to defence, police, border and security engagement that fosters a peaceful, secure and resilient Pacific for the mutual benefit of both countries and the region. Continuing to train, exercise and deploy together will help Australia and Fiji meet the expectation of PIF leaders that the Pacific region can manage regional security challenges.

For more information on these programs see Enhance our security cooperation

Objective 4 – Cooperate on regional and international issues

Australia is working in partnership with Fiji to support its regional ambitions, prioritise Pacific-led solutions to Pacific issues and support Fiji to manage the impacts of climate change. This objective encompasses our support for the PIF, including the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent and the Boe Declaration on Regional Security. We also continue to focus on delivering effective and timely responses in the event of a significant disaster and assisting longer-term recovery efforts, while also supporting the Government of Fiji and Fijian communities to lead their own preparation and risk reduction efforts.

For more information on these programs see Cooperate on regional and international issues

Objective 5 – Partner to enable sustainable human development

Australia is partnering with Fiji to respond to the significant human development challenges it faces, including through our programs in health and education. There is a focus on strengthening Government of Fiji services, delivering climate-resilient and inclusive health and education infrastructure, supporting education and skills development priorities, and supporting gender equality and disability equity and rights.

For more information on these programs see Partner to enable sustainable human development

Climate change

Along with natural hazards (e.g. earthquakes and tsunamis), climate change impacts will increasingly challenge Fiji's ability to achieve its development ambitions. Climate impacts are projected to intensify, with increases in temperature leading to heatwaves, extreme rain events and flooding, increasingly intense tropical cyclones, sea level rise and ocean acidification. Tropical Cyclone Winston (2016) was the southern hemisphere's strongest ever storm and caused damage amounting to FJD2 billion, or 20 per cent of Fiji's GDP. Fiji's Climate Vulnerability Assessment (2017) concluded that climate change will amplify the multiple risks and impacts on sectors such as transport, water, fisheries, tourism and agriculture. Rising sea levels could threaten more than 30 per cent of the population by 2065.

Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion

The Fiji Government has made strong policy commitments to support gender equality and disability inclusion, including to prevent gender-based violence, support women's economic empowerment and develop a new national disability inclusion policy. Fiji is one of the few countries (globally) to have constitutional protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. However, cultural norms and resource limitations pose significant challenges, with women, people with disability and the LGBTQIA+ community experiencing varying forms of inequality and discrimination.

Women's experience of gender equality differs depending on socioeconomic position, religion, ethnicity and age. Fiji has high rates of gender-based violence, and women tend to work in lower-paid and less secure jobs. There are low levels of representation of women in national leadership, with only five of the 55 parliamentary seats held by women. Fijian women have higher rates of sexually transmitted infections than the regional and global averages.

People with disability have limited representation in national parliament, the public service and the private sector. Of the total number of people in Fiji, aged 15 and over, with disabilities (24,371), approximately 27 per cent are in the labour force, compared to 58 per cent of those without disabilities. They also have education rates lower than the national average.  A major cause of the growing rates of disability in Fiji is non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including diabetes, obesity, cardio-vascular and cancer-related diseases.