This report argues that to succeed in the changing strategic environment, Australia needs a deeper understanding of our region's languages, cultures, histories, societies and economies. Asia capability is vital and the report makes 34 recommendations to strengthen it through Australia's education system.

The report reviews progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) each year since their adoption by all United Nations Member States in 2015. The 2026 edition identifies eight priorities for accelerating SDG progress through 2030 and beyond, and it presents results from two new surveys.

Australia’s strategic anxiety and emphasis on security in the Pacific Islands region have increasingly dominated bilateral affairs in the past decade. This paper argues the result has been a reconfiguration of valued development cooperation, risking a neglect of historical and contemporary reciprocal relations, which in turn can undermine diplomatic trust-building.

The Australia-European Union Security and Defence Partnership was signed on 24 March 2026. The partnership represents a significant step in EU–Australia relations, elevating cooperation beyond its traditional focus on trade and investment. This explainer describes what the partnership entails and highlights what it needs to become successful and impactful.

This explainer assesses how the Trump Administration’s approach to United States intelligence is affecting, and will affect in the future, Australia’s national intelligence community and by extension its national interests. It concludes that Australia should enhance the fields in which it has, or can develop, genuine sovereign intelligence capabilities and thinking.