Countries / Australia / Dossier
Australia
A combined view of Australia's UN General Assembly speeches, treaty commitments, and voting record.
The narrative paragraphs below are AI-generated syntheses of the data shown — the tables and figures themselves come directly from the underlying records, not from the AI.
Compare with another country →Speech history
Australia's General Assembly rhetoric has grown markedly more concrete and self-accountable over the past 15 years, shifting from measured multilateral messaging toward explicit policy commitments and emotional resonance. While multilateralism has remained consistently high (ranging 62–92), the most notable evolution is the sharp rise in emotional intensity from the subdued 2013–2018 period (28–44) to 2024–2025 (68–78), alongside heightened concreteness and accountability scores after 2015. The 2008–2012 arc emphasized institutional reform and interdependence; subsequent years pivoted toward concrete pledges on climate, development, and peacebuilding, with particular emphasis on Pacific solidarity and rules-based order since 2017.
| Session | Multilateralism | Emotional intensity | Concreteness | Self-accountability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | High | Medium | High | Medium |
| 2008 | Very High | Medium | Very High | High |
| 2009 | Very High | High | Very High | Medium |
| 2010 | Very High | Medium | High | High |
| 2011 | High | High | High | High |
| 2012 | Very High | Medium | High | High |
| 2013 | High | Low | High | Medium |
| 2015 | High | Medium | Very High | Very High |
| 2016 | High | Medium | High | High |
| 2017 | High | Low | High | Medium |
| 2018 | High | Low | Medium | High |
| 2022 | Very High | High | High | High |
| 2023 | Very High | High | High | High |
| 2024 | Very High | High | High | High |
| 2025 | Very High | High | High | Medium |
Treaty status
Full treaty record →Australia has demonstrated nearly comprehensive treaty engagement, ratifying 23 of 24 tracked instruments across all major thematic areas: environment, human rights, arms control, and trade governance. Its only abstention—the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons—reflects alignment with traditional security partners rather than disengagement from arms control broadly, given robust ratification of the CTBT, APM Convention, and Arms Trade Treaty. The country's environmental commitment is particularly pronounced, with ratification of all 10 climate and pollution-control treaties, signaling sustained policy priority even as rhetoric has varied in tone.
Arms control & security
- Arms Trade TreatyRatified
- Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban TreatyRatified
- Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their DestructionRatified
- Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear WeaponsNo action
Environment & climate
- Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their DisposalRatified
- Convention on Biological DiversityRatified
- Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone LayerRatified
- Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate ChangeRatified
- Minamata Convention on MercuryRatified
- Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone LayerRatified
- Paris AgreementRatified
- Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International TradeRatified
- Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic PollutantsRatified
- United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in AfricaRatified
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate ChangeRatified
Human rights
- Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or PunishmentRatified
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against WomenRatified
- Convention on the Rights of Persons with DisabilitiesRatified
- Convention on the Rights of the ChildRatified
- International Covenant on Civil and Political RightsRatified
International justice
- Rome Statute of the International Criminal CourtRatified
Trade & governance
- United Nations Convention against CorruptionRatified
- United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized CrimeRatified
- United Nations Convention on the Law of the SeaRatified
Voting record
Full voting record →Australia votes affirmatively on the vast majority of General Assembly resolutions (58% yes votes, 16% abstentions, 16% no votes across 5,694 votes), indicating general alignment with UN consensus. Notable dissents are rare and largely idiosyncratic rather than ideological: votes against high-consensus items on Palestinian refugee funding, Group of 77 leadership, and International Tea Day suggest selective scrutiny of procedural or budgetary matters rather than systematic dissent from human rights or development norms. The scattered nature of these outlier votes underscores Australia's otherwise cooperative multilateral posture.
Notable dissents from consensus
Proposed programme budget for 2024 : Section 26, Palestine refugees : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
2023-12-22 · voted N · 99% voted yes
Chair of the Group of 77 for 2019 : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
2018-10-16 · voted N · 98% voted yes
Question of the trust Territory of Nauru : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
1966-12-20 · voted N · 98% voted yes
International Tea Day : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
2019-12-19 · voted N · 98% voted yes
Population and refugees displaced since 1967 : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
1979-11-23 · voted N · 98% voted yes
Human development
Full HDI record →Human Development Index: 0.958 (Very High), ranked #7 globally in 2023.
Combines life expectancy, education, and income into one comparable score, 0 to 1. Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2025 — deterministic figures, not AI-generated.
1990–2023