Japan-Australia Relations

1. The 4th Japan-Australia Cyber Policy Dialogue was held in Canberra on 22 February 2019. The Dialogue reflects both countries' continued commitment to address key bilateral, regional and global cyber issues. The whole of government meeting was co-chaired by Dr Tobias Feakin, Ambassador for Cyber Affairs, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), and Mr Masato Otaka, Ambassador in charge of Cyber Policy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA). Participating officials, on the Japanese side, included the National Center of Incident Readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity; National Security Secretariat; Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office; National Police Agency; Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; MOFA; Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Ministry of Defense; and JPCERT/CC. On the Australian side there were participating officials from DFAT; Department of Home Affairs; Australian Cyber Security Centre; Australian Federal Police; Department of Defence; Department of Communications and the Arts; Austrade; and Digital Transformation Agency.

2. The multi-agency Dialogue provided the opportunity for both countries to deepen their understanding of each other's cyber security priorities, and efforts to deal with cyber threats. Discussions included an exchange of views on key issues regarding cyber threat trends, national cyber security efforts and cooperation in cyber security in a bilateral, regional and multinational context.

3. Japan and Australia reaffirmed their commitment to continue to enhance cooperation and information sharing on responses to malicious cyber activities, including deterring and responding to significant cyber incidents, consistent with relevant domestic and international law. This cooperation strengthens the strategic framework of international cyber stability, consisting of the applicability of existing international law to state behaviour in cyberspace, adherence to agreed voluntary norms of responsible state behaviour during peacetime, and the development and implementation of practical cyber confidence building measures between states, supported by coordinated capacity building programs. In this regard, Japan and Australia reaffirmed their commitment to work collaboratively on cyber capacity building across the region.

4. Japan and Australia also reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate further on supply chain and IoT security.

5. Japan and Australia reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate in multilateral forums on the further elaboration of international law and norms, confidence building measures and capacity building measures. This includes discussions in the United Nations, the G20, and the ASEAN Regional Forum Inter-Sessional Meeting on Security of and in the Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ARF-ISM on ICTs Security).

6. Japan and Australia plan to hold the 5th Japan-Australia Cyber Policy Dialogue in Japan in 2020.