Australia
Country Spotlight
Australia is a party to all major nonproliferation treaties and export control regimes. After developing a chemical warfare capability during World War II and collaborating with the UK on nuclear weapons testing, Australia no longer maintains offensive WMD programs. In 2021 Australia announced a deal to purchase American nuclear-powered submarines.
See Australia's performance in:
Region East Asia and the Pacific
28% World’s uranium resources
1985 Australia Group founded
12 British nuclear weapons tests hosted
Nuclear
- Has never possessed or developed nuclear weapons
- Has largest known quantity of uranium resources in the world
- Party to the Treaty of Rarotonga, which established a nuclear weapons-free zone in the South Pacific
- Set to acquire nuclear-powered submarines via the AUKUS deal with the U.K. and U.S.
Tutorial on Nuclear 101
Biological
- Has never possessed a biological warfare capacity
- Conducts research on biological materials and biosecurity
- Ratified the Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention (BTWC) in 1977
Tutorial on Biological Weapons Nonproliferation
Australia Overview
Missile
- Will develop and test hypersonic cruise missiles under agreement with the US
- Is a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and was involved in drafting the Hague Code of Conduct Against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCOC)
- Deploys AGM-158 cruise missiles on its F/A-18A/B aircraft
Tutorial on Missiles and Other WMD Delivery Systems
Overview of The CNS Missile and SLV Launch Databases
Chemical
- Destroyed its chemical weapons stockpiles after World War II
- Chairs the Australia Group, which enhances cooperation on controlling the spread of materials related to chemical weapons development
- Ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 1994
Tutorial on Chemical Weapons Nonproliferation
NTI Tutorials
Treaties and Regimes Memberships
- NTI
- CNS
The CNS North Korea Missile Test Database
A collection of missile tests including the date, time, missile name, launch agency, facility name, and test outcome.
Nuclear Disarmament Belarus
2024 Next Generation for Biosecurity Competition: A Conversation with the Experts
9 AM EDT
Education Center