The Prime Minister of Australia, the Honourable Anthony Albanese MP, and the Prime Minister of Thailand, His Excellency Mr Anutin Charnvirakul, reaffirmed the longstanding and close ties between Australia and Thailand as reflected in the Australia-Thailand Strategic Partnership.
Leaders reiterated their shared commitment to a peaceful, stable, and prosperous Indo-Pacific and agreed to deepen cooperation to address the evolving threat of transnational crime.
Leaders expressed grave concern over the growing sophistication and proliferation of online scam operations, including the use of emerging technologies to facilitate cybercrime, financial fraud, money laundering and trafficking in persons, undermining governance, economic resilience and regional security. They agreed to strengthen cooperation among Australian and Thai law enforcement, customs, immigration and financial intelligence agencies to disrupt the criminal networks, financial flows and supply chains that enable cyber-enabled fraud and the trafficking of illicit commodities, including narcotics and illicit tobacco.
Leaders acknowledged the close cooperation between the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Thai law enforcement agencies, including the Royal Thai Police (RTP), Office of the Narcotics Control Board, Department of Special Investigation and Anti-Money Laundering Office. They welcomed Australia's support for the Anti Cyber Scam Centre (ACSC), under Police Cyber Taskforce, RTP. Supported by AFP Operation Firestorm, this cooperation has contributed to a significant number of arrests and the disruption of a substantial number of scam centres across Southeast Asia.
Leaders recognised their countries' contributions to regional and international efforts against transnational crime, including Thailand's co-hosting of the International Conference on the Global Partnership against Online Scams and the Mekong-Australia Partnership on Transnational Crime (MAP-TNC), which facilitates cooperation on customs, forensic science and financial crime intelligence. They reaffirmed support for the ASEAN Border Management Cooperation Roadmap and agreed to strengthen cooperation to identify, trace and recover criminal proceeds, combat money laundering and address the misuse of virtual assets for criminal purposes.
To combat illicit drug trafficking, Leaders reaffirmed their support for Taskforce Storm, established between the AFP and RTP, the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, the Anti-Money Laundering Office, and the Department of Special Investigation in 2016, as an important mechanism for disrupting transnational criminal networks and intercepting illicit narcotics across the Mekong subregion, preventing the use of countries in the region as transit points for drug trafficking, and protecting communities in Thailand, Australia, and the wider region from the harms associated with illicit narcotics.
Leaders reaffirmed their commitment to countering trafficking in persons in all its forms. Building on decades of cooperation, they agreed to strengthen law enforcement capabilities and victim-centred approaches, including through the ASEAN-Australia Counter Trafficking Program, Thailand's Countering Trafficking in Persons Centre of Excellence, and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Centre, RTP, and expressed their continued support for the program.
Leaders agreed to continue cooperation through relevant regional and bilateral mechanisms, including ASEAN-led frameworks, the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime, and the Thailand-Australia Security Dialogue, to combat transnational crime, trafficking in persons and irregular migration.
Leaders agreed that continued law enforcement cooperation against transnational and organised crime would help protect their citizens and contribute to a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
Signed in duplicate in Canberra, this 19th day of August 2026 (B.E.2569) in the English language.
