Australia Group (AG)

The Australia Group (AG) was formed in 1985 with the aim of harmonising export controls on chemical weapons (CW) precursor chemicals in the wake of Iraq's use of chemical weapons in the Iran-Iraq war. The AG charter was subsequently extended to include controls on chemical production equipment and technologies which might be misused for CW purposes. The scope of AG activities was extended again in 1990 to include measures to prevent the proliferation of biological weapons (BW).

The lists of items controlled by AG participating countries are reviewed regularly to minimise the risk of relevant dual-use materials being diverted to chemical or biological weapons programmes. The AG contributes to the fulfilment of national obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). In particular, given the absence of an international organisation to facilitate implementation of the BWC, AG participants' licensing requirements are the only current form of harmonised control over transfers of BW items.

The AG currently consists of 42 countries and the European Union. All AG participants are States Parties to the CWC and the BWC. Australia is the permanent chair of the Group and also provides its Secretariat (in DFAT's Arms Control and Counter-Proliferation Branch). The AG convenes annual plenary meetings hosted by France and intersessional experts' meetings to consider issues relating to policy, information sharing, implementation and enforcement.

• Statements by the Chair of the Australia Group

More information can be found at the Australia Group website.

Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI)

The Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) provides the international community with the practical means of cooperating, consistent with national and international law and frameworks, to prevent illicit trafficking in weapons of mass destruction (WMD), their delivery systems and related materials.

Since its launch in 2003, over 100 countries have endorsed the PSI Statement of Interdiction Principles. The core objectives of the PSI Principles, which all participating countries publicly support, are to complement the objective of UNSC Resolution 1540 by helping to prevent WMD proliferation.

PSI Exercises

A priority for Australia, and all PSI participants, is to maintain and refine capabilities for interdicting WMD-related trade. Countries participating in PSI activities have developed their maritime, air and ground interdiction capabilities through a program of joint training exercises in Europe, Asia and North America. These exercises are designed to:

• enhance operational responsiveness by testing national interdiction capacities
• improve mechanisms for conducting joint interdiction operations with other countries
• bridge differences in training and operational systems and allow policy experts, enforcement agents operational personnel to learn to work together in a cooperative and collaborative manner

Australia participates in the annual Asia-Pacific Exercise Rotation (APER) – an enduring flagship activity of the PSI in the Asia-Pacific. Australia hosted the most recent APER Exercise Pacific Protector in September 2024.

Operational Experts Group

Within the PSI framework, 21 states, including Australia, form the Operational Experts Group (OEG) which plays an essential role in ensuring the effectiveness of the PSI by:

• leveraging related counter-proliferation efforts
• contributing customs, law enforcement, military and other security experts and assets to interdiction exercises
• hosting PSI meetings, workshops, and exercises with other PSI-endorsing states
• working with specific partner states to improve their capacity to combat the proliferation of WMDs

More information of the PSI can be found on the PSI website.