Australia

Cluster Munition Ban Policy

Last updated: 04 September 2020

Ten-Year Review: State Party Australia ratified the convention on 8 October 2012, after enacting implementing legislation. It has participated in every meeting of the convention and has promoted its universalization, especially in Asia and the Pacific. Australia has condemned new use of cluster munitions in Syria and elsewhere.

According to its initial transparency report for the convention provided in 2013, Australia has not used, produced, or transferred cluster munitions and never possessed an operational stockpile. Australia initially retained cluster munitions for training and research purposes, but destroyed them in 2013.

Policy

Australia signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008, ratified on 8 October 2012, and the convention entered into force for the country on 1 April 2013.

Australia’s implementing legislation is the Criminal Code Amendment (Cluster Munitions Prohibition) Act 2012, which also took effect on 1 April 2013.[1] Australia states the legislation and ban convention “are fully reflected in Australian Defence Force (ADF) doctrine, procedures, rules and directives.”[2] A joint directive by the Secretary of the Department of Defence and Chief of the Defence Force on 27 March 2013 instructed all defence personnel on compliance with the Act and ban convention.[3]

Australia submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 6 September 2013. It has provided annual updates since then, most recently in January 2020.[4]

Australia participated extensively in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions and its policy toward the prohibition on cluster munitions evolved significantly during that time.[5] Australia joined in the consensus adoption of the convention in Dublin on 30 May 2008 and signed in December 2008.

Australia has participated in every meeting of the convention, most recently the Ninth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in September 2019. Australia attended the convention’s First Review Conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia in September 2015 and intersessional meetings in Geneva in 2011–2015.

Australia works to universalize the convention, especially in Asia and the Pacific, where it has supported regional workshops and other activities aimed at addressing cluster munitions and explosive remnants of war (ERW).[6] Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) member SafeGround (formerly the Australian Network to Ban Landmines and Cluster Munitions) promotes Australia’s support for the Convention on Cluster Munitions and is surveying the impact of ERW in the Pacific, starting in the Solomon Islands.[7]

In December 2019, Australia voted in favor of UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 74/62 promoting universalization and implementation of the convention.[8] It has voted for the annual resolution promoting the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.

In September 2019, Australia told States Parties that the use of cluster munitions “in current conflicts, including in Syria and allegations of new use in Libya … is particularly concerning given the disproportionate effect these weapons have on civilian populations.”[9] Australia has condemned the use of cluster munitions in Syria several times, and has voted in favor of multiple UN Human Rights Council resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in June 2020.[10] Australia has also voted in favor of UNGA resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2019.[11]

In 2014, Australia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs described “reports of possible use of cluster munitions in South Sudan” as concerning and “contrary to the growing international consensus established by the Convention against the use of these indiscriminate weapons.”[12]

Interpretive issues

In correspondence, statements made during the Oslo Process, and in the legislative process to enact the Criminal Code Amendment (Cluster Munitions Prohibition) Act 2012, Australia has publicly elaborated its views on several important matters relating to its interpretation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

The CMC has described the 2012 implementing law as “extremely problematic” because it “allows its military personnel to assist with cluster munition attacks by states not party, and it creates explicit exceptions for transit across, and foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions in the country’s territory. The provisions not only run counter to the prohibition on assistance but also contravene Article 9, which requires penal sanctions for activities prohibited by the convention and ‘undertaken by persons or on territory under its jurisdiction or control.’ Such interpretations of the convention, which are in the minority, are contrary to both the language of the treaty and its underlying aim.”[13]

Joint military operations

During the Oslo Process, Australia supported the inclusion in the convention text of provisions on “interoperability” or military relations with states that have not joined the convention (Article 21).[14] In a December 2008 United States (US) diplomatic cable made public by Wikileaks in 2011, a senior Australian foreign affairs official reportedly informed US officials that “From a policy perspective, Australia would strongly wish to avoid any limitations on ADF involvement in tactical planning with US forces.”[15]

Section 72.41 of Australia’s implementing legislation provides a defence to the offence provisions where prohibited conduct takes place in the course of military cooperation or operations with a foreign country that is not a party to the Convention.”[16] During joint or coalition military operations, ADF personnel could help plan operations, or provide intelligence for and/or contribute logistical support to coalition members, during which a state not party uses cluster munitions.[17]

In the view of the CMC, Section 72.41 of Australia’s implementing legislation may be interpreted to allow Australians to assist in the context of joint or coalition military operations with prohibited activities that run counter to the convention’s object and purpose as well as its prohibition on assistance. In 2012, the CMC expressed concern that the legislation “allows Australian troops to directly and actively assist in activities prohibited by the Convention during military operations with states not party to it, allowing its military personnel to help plan, give logistical support for, or provide intelligence for cluster munition attacks by states not party.”[18] The CMC believes a State Party can allow participation in joint military operations without permitting these forms of assistance.

In 2013, a government representative informed the Monitor that “Australia’s view regarding interoperability is a matter of public knowledge and has been consistent throughout the negotiations on the Convention to the present day. Section 72.41 of Australia’s implementing legislation is consistent with the provisions in Article 21 of the Convention.”[19] Upon Australia’s ratification of the convention in October 2012, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Defence, and the Attorney-General stated, “With this legislation, it is now an offence to use…and also to encourage others to engage with these dangerous weapons…The Convention and the Act will also apply to ADF personnel during military operations and ADF personnel serving alongside the defence forces of States not party to the Convention.”[20]

In 2011, the Minister of Defence, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and the Attorney-General described interoperability as “central to the maintenance of Australia’s national security” and said “Australian Defence Force personnel will not be permitted to use, develop, produce or otherwise acquire cluster munitions, or to make the decision to do so. This includes while serving on combined operations with Defence forces of other countries, in combined headquarters, or on exchange with a foreign force.”[21]

In 2012, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) informed the Monitor that “ADF personnel involved in joint operations may call in fire support from forces of a State not party to the Convention, where they are aware that cluster munitions may be used. However, ADF personnel must not specifically request the use of cluster munitions where the choice of munitions is within their exclusive control.”[22] In 2012, the Attorney-General stated that “ADF personnel serving alongside defense forces of other countries remain subject to Australian domestic and international legal obligations and national policy requirements, which are applied through ADF doctrine, procedures, rules, and directives.”[23]

Transit and foreign stockpiling

Section 72.42 of Australia’s implementing legislation explicitly allows states not party to stockpile cluster munitions on Australian soil and permits them to transit cluster munitions through Australian ports and airspace. In the CMC’s view, transit and foreign stockpiling are activities banned under the prohibition on assistance of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Government representatives have often stated that foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions on Australian soil will not be allowed, despite the implementing legislation’s provisions explicitly allowing foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions in Australia. Australia’s 2013 transparency report states that as a matter of policy the government “will not approve the stockpiling of cluster munitions in Australia by foreign governments.”[24] The Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Defence, and the Attorney-General said in October 2012 that “Australia will not approve the stockpiling of cluster munitions in Australia by other countries.”[25] In June 2012, the Attorney-General stated that “the Government has not and will not authorise foreign stockpiles of cluster munitions in Australia.”[26] Before the November 2011 policy decision, Australian officials told the Monitor that the legislation permitted foreign stockpiling in Australia.[27]

Disinvestment

Australia’s implementing legislation does not include specific measures to prohibit investment in cluster munition production. In 2011, DFAT told the Monitor that the convention “does not expressly prohibit investment in companies that produce or manufacture cluster munitions,” but said “some acts of investment will fall within the scope of the conduct prohibited by Article 1” of the convention.[28] In 2010, the Attorney-General stated that prohibited activities includes where a person “invests in a company that develops or produces cluster munitions, but only where that person intends to assist, encourage or induce the development or production of cluster munitions by that company.”[29] In 2011, the Attorney-General’s department stated “The intentional provision of financial assistance to an entity so that the entity can develop or produce cluster munitions will amount to an offence.”[30]

In 2011, Australia’s sovereign wealth fund disinvested its holdings in landmine and cluster munition manufacturers by excluding 10 companies from its investment portfolio.[31]

Australia is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

In its Article 7 reports, Australia stated the “Australian Defence Force (ADF) has not used and does not use cluster munitions operationally.”[32]

Australia also reported that it “does not have and has never had a stockpile of cluster munitions for operational use.”[33] Before ratifying the convention, Australia stated several times that it has never possessed an operational stockpile of cluster munitions.[34]

In the initial transparency report, Australia disclosed that “in the 1970s and early 1980s Australia conducted the KARINGA project” which involved “design trials of an indigenous cluster munition, as well as operational test and evaluation trials.” According to the report, the trials “did not result in a production run” and “the KARINGA was not certified for operational employment, was never introduced into service, and has not been used in any operations.”[35] In 2010, a senior DFAT official told the Monitor that Australia tested approximately 10–20 cluster munitions and acquired “limited numbers” of US CBU-58 cluster bombs to test and “‘baseline’ the Karinga’s performance.”[36]

Retention

In 2013, Australia destroyed two cluster munitions and 276 explosive submunitions from the former Soviet Union that it initially retained for training.[37] Australia said the retained cluster munitions were “representative samples” of submunitions and dispensers of which only two bombs were “live.”[38]

Australia’s implementation legislation requires Ministerial authorization for the acquisition and retention of cluster munitions for training, counter-measures, and destruction purposes.[39]

 



[1] The Criminal Code Amendment (Cluster Munitions Prohibition) Bill 2010 was approved by the House of Representatives on 18 November 2010 and by the Senate on 21 August 2012 and signed into law on 8 September 2012.

[2] Statement of Australia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 16 April 2013.

[4] The Article 7 transparency report provided by Australia on 3 January 2020 covers calendar year 2019.

[5] Australia informed the Monitor that “Australia’s position has been consistent and clear throughout the Oslo Process and beyond. On interoperability in particular, we do not consider there have been changes.” Email from Namdi Payne, Australian Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva, to Mary Wareham, Human Rights Watch (HRW), 13 June 2013. For details on Australia’s cluster munition policy and practice up to early 2009, see HRW and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 30–35.

[6] Statement of Australia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 11 September 2013. Draft Outcomes Statement, Pacific Regional Explosive Remnants of War Workshop, 27–28 June 2013, provided to the Monitor by Lorel Thompson, National Coordinator, SafeGround, 30 March 2014. Australia also co-sponsored the Pacific Conference on Conventional Weapons Treaties in New Zealand on 12-14 February 2018. See, “Auckland Declaration on Conventional Weapons Treaties,” 14 February 2018.

[7] Email from Lorel Thomas, SafeGround, 16 June 2015.

[8]Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 74/62, 12 December 2019.

[9] Statement of Australia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Ninth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 2 September 2019.

[10]Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” Human Rights Council Resolution 43/28, 22 June 2020. See also, Statement of Australia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 17 April 2013.

[11]Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution 74/169, 18 December 2019.

[12] Letter to SafeGround from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), 6 March 2014. The letter was in response to a letter from SafeGround expressing concern at reports of new cluster munition use in South Sudan.

[13] Statement by Bonnie Docherty, HRW, for the CMC, Oslo, 13 September 2012.

[14] In 2011, Wikileaks released 10 United States (US) Department of State reporting cables for the period from December 2007 to January 2009, showing that Australia consulted closely with the US during the Oslo Process, particularly with respect to interoperability (military relations with states not party to the ban convention). One cable, dated 27 February 2008, cited a meeting with a senior Australian foreign affairs official who requested US assistance in identifying African countries with potential interoperability issues that would support Australia’s views on interoperability in the negotiations of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. “Wellington cluster munitions meeting outcomes,” US Department of State cable 08CANBERRA199 dated 27 February 2008, released by Wikileaks on 29 August 2011.

[15] The cable reports that the official’s understanding of Article 21 is that “Australian military personnel will be prohibited under the CCM [Convention on Cluster Munitions] from physically deploying cluster munitions” and “Australian military personnel embedded with U.S. forces will be able to generally engage in tactical planning, except where such participation amounts to an express request to physically deploy cluster munitions as defined in the CCM, and the choice of munitions used was within the exclusive control of the Australian military personnel.” The Australian official cited in the cable was Gerry McGuire, Director, Arms Control and Counter-Proliferation Branch, DFAT. “Australia clarifies cluster munitions issues for embedded personnel,” US Department of State cable 08CANBERRA1290 dated 18 December 2008, released by Wikileaks on 30 August 2011.

[16] Bills digest 72 2010-11 on the Criminal Code Amendment (Cluster Munitions Prohibition) Bill 2010, 1 March 2011.

[17] Department of Defence, Criminal Code Amendment (Cluster Munitions Prohibition) Bill 2010, March 2011; and email from Namdi Payne, Australian Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva, to Mary Wareham, HRW, 13 June 2013.

[18] Statement of the CMC, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 13 September 2012.

[19] Email from Namdi Payne, Australian Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva, to Mary Wareham, HRW, 13 June 2013.

[20] Statement by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Defence, and the Attorney-General, “Australia ratifies global treaty to ban cluster munitions,” 17 October 2012.

[21] Statement by the Minister for Defence, “Australia committed to Cluster Munitions Convention,” 23 November 2011.

[22] “Input for Cluster Munition Monitor,” document provided in email from Philip Kimpton, First Secretary/Legal Adviser, Australian Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva, 14 May 2012.

[23] Letter from Nicola Roxon, Attorney-General, Ref: MC12/05078, 20 June 2012. The Attorney-General noted that the United Kingdom and Canada “have taken a similar approach to interoperability in their domestic legislation.”

[25] Statement by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Defence, and the Attorney-General, “Australia ratifies global treaty to ban cluster bombs,” 17 October 2012.

[26] Letter from Nicola Roxon, Attorney-General, Ref: MC12/05078, 20 June 2012.

[27] In August 2011, a representative said that the law provided “a defence for military personnel of countries that are not party to the Convention who stockpile, retain or transfer cluster munitions while on a base, ship or aircraft in Australian territory. Notwithstanding this defence, visiting forces would not be allowed to use, develop, produce or acquire cluster munitions in Australia.” Email from Philip Kimpton, Australian Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva, 10 August 2011. Another official said in March 2011 that Article 21(3) permits States Parties to undertake military cooperation and operations with states not party to the convention which “may extend to hosting foreign bases, aircraft, or ships and, in this context, to the stockpiling, retention and/or transfer of cluster munitions by military personnel of States not party to the Convention.” Letter from Peter Hooton, DFAT, 22 March 2011.

[28] Letter from Peter Hooton, DFAT, 22 March 2011.

[29] Attorney-General Robert McClelland, Second Reading of Criminal Code Amendment (Cluster Munitions Prohibition) Bill 2010, 27 October 2010. Hansard, 27 October 2010, p. 1755.

[30] “Criminal Code Amendment (Cluster Munitions Prohibition) Bill 2010, Attorney-General’s Department - Additional information,” submission to Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade inquiry on the Criminal Code Amendment (Cluster Munitions Prohibition) Bill 2010See Bills digest 72 2010-11 on the Criminal Code Amendment (Cluster Munitions Prohibition) Bill 2010, 1 March 2011.

[31] Robert Fenner and Gemma Daley, “Australia’s Wealth Fund Dumps Cluster Bomb, Mine Makers on Treaty,” Bloomberg, 2 May 2011.

[32] This statement is provided under Form G on “measures to provide warning to the population and risk education.” Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form G, 6 September 2013; and Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form G, 11 April 2014.

[33] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form B, 6 September 2013; and Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form B, 11 April 2014. In April 2013, Australia stated that it has never had “operational stockpiles of cluster munitions” and “will not, therefore, need to undertake a process of stockpile destruction.” Statement of Australia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 16 April 2013.

[34] Statement by Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Defence, and Attorney-General, “Australia committed to Cluster Munitions Convention,” 23 November 2011.

[36] Letter from Peter Hooton, DFAT, 27 April 2010.

[38] Statement of Australia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Session on Stockpile Destruction, Geneva, 27 June 2011.

[39] Section 72.39 permits the retention of cluster munitions using language identical to that of the convention’s Article 3.6. The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, Criminal Code Amendment (Cluster Munitions Prohibition) Bill 2012: A Bill for an Act to criminalise some acts involving certain munitions, and for related purposes, 8 October 2012.


Mine Ban Policy

Last updated: 12 November 2019

Policy

The Commonwealth of Australia signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 14 January 1999, becoming a State Party on 1 July 1999. On 10 December 1998, Australia enacted legislation to implement the Mine Ban Treaty domestically.[1]

Australia regularly attends meetings of the treaty, including the Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014, and more recently the Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November 2018, where it made statements on victim assistance, cooperation and assistance, and a general statement.[2]

In 2018, Australia served as Coordinator of the Sponsorship Programme.[3] Australia served on the Standing Committees on Stockpile Destruction (2000–2002), Victim Assistance (2002–2004; 2009–2011), and Mine Clearance (2007–2009), and was president of the Seventh Meeting of States Parties in 2006.

Australia is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II on landmines and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. Australia is also party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Production, import, use, stockpiling

Australia formally halted operational use of antipersonnel mines on 15 April 1996. Australia was a minor producer of antipersonnel mines. In 2000, Australia told the Monitor that antipersonnel mine production at the St. Mary’s Ammunition factory ceased in the early 1980s.[4]

Australia also imported mines from the United States (US).[5] Australia has never exported antipersonnel mines.

Australia destroyed its stockpile of 128,161 antipersonnel mines in 1999, well before its treaty-mandated destruction deadline of 1 July 2003. In 2000, it destroyed an additional 6,460 mines.[6] By December 2016, it had destroyed the remainder of the retained mines.[7]



[1] Antipersonnel Mines Convention Bill 1998.

[2] Statements of Australia, Mine Ban Treaty Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 26–30 November 2018.

[3] Statement of Australia, Mine Ban Treaty Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 30 November 2018.

[4] Letter to Landmine Monitor (HRW), from Richard Maude, Assistant Secretary, Arms Control and Disarmament Branch, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 7 September 2000.

[5] According to one US government source, the US shipped 38,000 antipersonnel mines to Australia in 1969, including 30,000 M16A1 bounding mines and 8,000 M18A1 Claymore mines. According to another US government source, the US exported 8,000 antipersonnel mines to Australia between 1983 and 1992, but precise types and years are not known.

[6] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form D, 14 April 2010.

[7] Ibid., 30 April 2017.


Support for Mine Action

Last updated: 17 November 2022

In 2020, the Commonwealth of Australia contributed A$5.9 million (US$4.4 million) in mine action funding to four countries and global activities.[1] Australia’s funding for mine action in 2021 decreased by 33% compared to the previous year.

The largest contributions went to United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) projects in Afghanistan and Iraq for clearance and risk education activities.

Contributions by recipient: 2021[2]

Recipient

Sector

Amount (A$)

Amount (US$)

Iraq

Clearance and risk education

3,000,000

2,254,500

Global

Advocacy and risk education

1,050,000

789,075

Afghanistan

Clearance

900,000

676,350

Sri Lanka

Clearance

642,000

482,463

Palau

Clearance (ERW)

261,721

196,683

Total

N/A

5,853,721

4,399,071

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war; N/A=not applicable.

Mine action assistance approach

In 2020 and 2021, Australia noted that its support was directed toward clearance of landmines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), stockpile management, victim assistance, capacity-building, and establishment of best practices.[3]

COVID-19 and mine action support

In May 2021, Australia said that it had to reduce its mine action funding due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, though it was reported that funding levels for the second half of 2021 and the first half of 2022 were “nearing pre-COVID levels.”[4] Australia has also adapted activities and agreements to take into account the impacts of the pandemic.[5]

Five-year support to mine action

From 2017–2021, Australia’s contribution to mine action totaled more than A$46 million (US$33.5 million), compared to the A$65.8million (US$60.3 million) provided during the previous five-year period from 2012–2016. When expressed in US$, this represents a decrease of 44%.

Summary of contributions: 2017–2021[6]

Year

Amount (A$)

Amount (US$)

% change from previous year (US$)

2021

5,853,721

4,399,071

-33

2020

9,450,000

6,519,555

-40

2019

15,551,545

10,811,434

+38

2018

10,480,000

7,840,088

+98

2017

5,150,000

3,950,565

-64

Total

46,485,266

33,520,713

N/A

Note: N/A=not applicable.



[1] Average exchange rate for 2021: A$1=US$0.7515. United States (US) Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 3 January 2022.

[2] Australia Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2021), Form I. See, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Database; and Australia Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2021), Form J. See, Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Database.

[3] Mine Action Support Group (MASG) meeting, held virtually, Minutes, 28 May 2021; and statement of Australia, Mine Ban Treaty Eighteenth Meeting of States Parties, held virtually, 16–20 November 2020.

[4] MASG meeting, held virtually, Minutes, 28 May 2021.

[5] Australia Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2020), Form J.

[6] See previous Monitor reports.