Australia is a strong supporter of mine action and is a party to the international conventions which guide mine action including the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (also known as the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons); the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction (also known as the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention); and the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Funding provided by Australia is helping to reduce the number of deaths and injuries from landmines, cluster munitions and other explosive remnants of war and to improve the quality of life for survivors of these weapons.
Australia’s mine action assistance is provided through key multilateral partners, including the United Nations Mine Action Service, and through bilateral aid partnerships. This assistance includes support to victims and long-standing support to the Gender and Mine Action Programme – an international expert organisation based in Geneva.
Australia supports the integration of mine action with broader development programs. Australia also considers it important to build the capacity of countries to manage their own national mine action programs. The levels of assistance provided and modalities by which Australia supports mine action vary according to the context and priorities of each partner country, and the capacity of its national mine action program.
Australia regards as a priority those initiatives which focus on areas of high risk and casualties arising from landmines, cluster munitions and other explosive remnants of war. Through its international diplomatic engagement, Australia advocates for universal accession and adherence to the international mine action conventions.