1. On 23 December 2021, Australian Minister for Home Affairs, the Hon Karen Andrews MP and Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, HE Prof. Dr. Mohammad Mahfud MD met in Jakarta for the eighth meeting of the Australia Indonesia Ministerial Council on Law and Security.
2. Ministers acknowledged the longstanding and strong partnership between Australia and Indonesia, and reaffirmed their shared commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation to address security and transnational crime threats in an increasingly complex regional dynamic.
3. Ministers agreed to cooperate further to counter terrorism and violent extremism, to counter cyber security threats and to enhance maritime security capacity. Ministers noted that their meeting followed the Seventh Indonesia-Australia 2+2 Meeting on 9 September 2021 in Jakarta, where Foreign and Defence Ministers reiterated their commitment to deepen cooperation under the five pillars of our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP).
4. Ministers acknowledged the Australia-Indonesia Ministerial Council on Law and Security as an important forum in both countries’ regional security architecture and its contribution to the advancement of mutual interests. Ministers welcomed the implementation of outcomes agreed at the last meeting held virtually on 27 October 2020, and reiterated their ongoing commitment to cooperate to counter terrorism and transnational crime.
5. Minister Andrews expressed her gratitude to Minister Mahfud for allowing Australia to host the Ministerial Council in Indonesia, and extended an invitation to host Indonesia in Australia in 2022 to co-chair the next iterations of the Ministerial Council and the Sub Regional Meeting on Counter Terrorism and Transnational Security.
On counter terrorism, including foreign terrorist fighters
Ministers:
- Agreed to hold a deep dive on conducting ‘post-event reviews’ to capture lessons learned and to evaluate successin the implementation of significant counter terrorism policies and programs.
- Agreed the importance of constant review and improvement of counter terrorism legal frameworks, and Australia agreed to support Indonesian agencies through the development of guidance on the prosecution of counter terrorism financing cases and the investigation of general terrorism crimes.
- Agreed the importance of maintaining bilateral and multilateral dialogue on these challenges, particularly through the Sub-Regional Meeting on Counter Terrorism and Transnational Security and the bilateral Counter Terrorism Dialogue.
- Acknowledged the recent cooperation between our two countries through:
- i. the inaugural Senior Officials Counter Terrorism Policy Forum, held 27 September 2021 under the auspices of the Sub-Regional Meeting on Counter Terrorism and Transnational Security;
- ii. the bilateral Foreign Terrorist Fighters Dialogue, held 15 September 2021; and
- iii. the technical exchange on respective approaches to identifying and managing threats to our borders, including the identification of suspected foreign terrorist fighter travellers (and their supporters), held 9 December 2021.
On preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE)
Ministers:
- Agreed to continue practical cooperation at the national and local level to implement Indonesia’s National Action Plan on P/CVE, including through the Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Justice (AIPJ).
- Welcomed the recent agreement to extend the AIPJ over three years to enhance practical cooperation to counter violent extremism, prevent transnational crime, progress criminal justice reform, and improve access to justice for women, girls and people with a disability.
- Acknowledged the success of the inaugural Australia-Indonesia Strategic Dialogue on P/CVE, held in July 2021, and confirmed Indonesia – via the National Counter Terrorism Agency (BNPT) – will host the second meeting in the first half of 2022.
- Agreed to hold additional P/CVE officials-level technical exchanges in 2022, including addressing online radicalisation, and disengaging and supporting women and children at risk of radicalisation, as agreed at the July 2021 Australia-Indonesia Strategic Dialogue on P/CVE.
- Reaffirmed our joint commitment to the Aqaba Process to enhance global coordination and cooperation to counter online terrorism and violent extremism, including through co-hosting a High-Level Technical Meeting in 2022.
- Agreed the importance of P/CVE programs in supporting terrorist inmates to disengage from violent extremist ideology, and Australia committed to exploring further opportunities to support Indonesian correctional authorities’ including through continuation of the P/CVE in Prisons Program in Indonesia. o Reaffirmed support to address the gender-dimensions of preventing violent extremism, and to seek further opportunities to progress the Women, Peace and Security agenda.
- Agree to ongoing collaboration in support of the South East Asian Network of Civil Society Organisations to build community resilience to violent extremism.
On maritime security cooperation, including illegal, unreported, unregulated (IUU) fishing
Ministers:
- Acknowledged the significance of their countries’ shared interest in promoting peace, security and stability in the region through a secure maritime domain.
- Agreed to continue cooperation on coordination between maritime security agencies, including the Maritime Capacity Building Initiative and Maritime Consultancy.
- Acknowledged the success of the recent Senior Officials Meeting between the Australian Border Force and the Indonesian Coast Guard (BAKAMLA) held on 21 October 2021, and agreed to further sharing of information and experiences to identify best practices and gaps in each countries’ legal and operational civil maritime security response frameworks.
- Acknowledged the mutual commitment to existing efforts in combatting IUU fishing as agreed in the Plan of Action for the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership 2020-2024, and undertook to work together through the Regional Plan of Action to Promote Responsible Fishing Practices including Combating IUU Fishing in the Region (RPOA-IUU) program.
On cyber security
Ministers:
- Emphasised the importance of strong cyber security cooperation and our joint commitment to pursue an open, secure, stable, accessible, and peaceful cyber space.
- Acknowledged our strengthening bilateral cyber cooperation, as illustrated by our enhanced MoU on Cyber and Emerging Cyber Technology Cooperation, signed on 8 September 2021.
- Agree that our two countries hold the fourth bilateral Cyber Policy Dialogue in the second half of 2022, with delegations to be led by the Australian Ambassador f or Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology and Indonesia’s Head of the National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN).
- Noted the strong progress to implement our closer cooperation cyber security issues, as reflected in the “Australia-Indonesia Cyber Cooperation: Summary and Proposed Activities 2018-2023” and committed to ongoing implementation of cyber security activities under the expanded September 2021 MoU.
- Acknowledged that Indonesia remains a priority engagement partner within
Australia’s Cyber and Critical Tech Cooperation Program, and noted our cooperation through the ongoing delivery of cybercrime investigative training via the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation for Indonesian and regional law enforcement officers.
