Financial crime doesn’t stop at our border and nor does our role.

We continue to build international partnerships and strengthen the financial systems of Australia’s Pacific neighbours. 

These partnerships involve capacity building, intelligence sharing and collaborative projects with other countries and regional bodies. They are central to our mission to protect the Australian community from serious and organised crime. 

Global reach

Our influence is felt globally. Earlier this year, CEO Brendan Thomas led Australia’s delegation to the Egmont Group in Luxembourg, where we championed Nauru’s successful bid for membership, bringing the financial intelligence units (FIUs) in the group to 183. 

AUSTRAC also has staff posted in 5 key regions, reinforcing our strong global presence. Based in Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, London, Washington and Suva, the team keep us up to date on developments and opportunities with our international partners. This year, we also welcomed Tonga to our Memorandum of Understandings (MOU) list, bringing our total to 108 MOUs with international FIUs and strengthening our approach to tackling borderless crimes.

Capacity building and collaboration

Along with our long-standing financial intelligence training programs in the Pacific and Southeast Asia, we also launched a new Financial Intelligence Tradecraft Training (FITT) program to the Pacific region.

We’re working closely with Papua New Guinea on joint projects to improve intelligence gathering and disrupt criminal networks. As part of this partnership, we delivered several tradecraft workshops in Port Moresby with Papua New Guinea’s Financial Analysis and Supervision Unit (FASU). 

Technology remains a critical tool in the fight against financial crime. We’ve shared our advanced TAIPAN financial intelligence system with 10 Pacific nations to help their analysts better identify suspicious transaction patterns warranting investigation. Through training and operational activities, including the innovative TAIPAN Games, Pacific FIUs are strengthening their capacity and confidence in using the system. 

Our efforts in equipping Pacific neighbours with TAIPAN software are reaping operational benefits and strengthening shared capability in the fight against financial crime. 

Regional leadership

Capping off our work in the Pacific this year, the annual Pacific Financial Intelligence Community (PFIC) plenary was held in Fiji in October. We co-chaired the event with the Fiji FIU and saw 15 FIUs come together to set the agenda for a joint operational and capability focus in 2026. Following the plenary, a meeting of Pacific supervisors was held, at which the Pacific Supervisors Forum was re-established.

Similarly, our work in Southeast Asia was headlined by the Philippines-hosted Financial Intelligence Consultative Group (FICG) 2025 plenary. As permanent co-chair of this 13-member group, we play a leading role in developing financial intelligence focus areas and collaborative activities. 

Australia, alongside India, also co-chairs the Asia Pacific Regional Group representing 32 countries within the Egmont Group. As part of this work, AUSTRAC is spearheading a key initiative analysing cryptocurrency adoption trends throughout the Asia-Pacific.

Visit our website for more information about our initiatives with international partners.