Five Country Ministerial 2026: Communiqué
We, the Home Affairs, Interior and Security Ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States (the ‘Five Countries’) convened under Australia’s Chairmanship, in Sydney on 25-26 August 2026, for the Five Country Ministerial (FCM). In a period marked by heightened global uncertainty, the Five Countries reaffirm our unwavering commitment to promoting shared values, and acting decisively to protect our borders, our economies, and the safety of our communities. In 2026, the Five Countries have driven coordinated action and practical cooperation on several key national security challenges, including the following national security priorities:
STATE THREATS
State threat actors are behaving with a greater level of hostility and audacity, posing a direct challenge to international rules and norms and our sovereignty. We recognise that hybrid threat tactics and tools are increasingly being used by state threat actors to pursue their malicious intentions, threaten our collective national and economic security, and undermine our sovereignty. The Five Countries agree that we must act swiftly and collectively stop these actors from actively undermining our democracies and freedoms.
State threat actors are growing in brazenness and sophistication, and evolving their tactics, including the increasing use of proxies to undertake acts on their behalf. These include malicious cyber activities, transnational repression, the targeting of critical infrastructure, and threats to our economic security including through harmful foreign investment and exploiting supply chains and vendors. This is being amplified by the emergence of advanced technology, including artificial intelligence.
We will actively defend and strengthen our sovereign integrity and our economic and national security from these state threats. We will deter, detect and respond to these threats by employing a whole-of-society approach that builds resilience through engaging governments, civil society, technology providers, media, academia, and communities. Through our joint initiatives, we will optimise individual and collective responses that ensure an educated, engaged and empowered community.
TERRORISM AND VIOLENCE
The Five Countries reaffirm our shared commitment to preventing and countering terrorism and violent extremism, which pose an enduring threat to the safety of our communities. We will leverage our collective enforcement, intelligence-driven responses, and proven prevention strategies, to respond to the threats from transnational terrorist groups, violent mixed ideologies, and challenges of youth radicalisation, including those who are mobilising towards violence. We must protect our people and our communities from the scourge of terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms.
Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence provide new tools for terrorists and violent extremists to misuse for radicalisation, spreading propaganda, attack planning, raising funds, and projecting threats. However, these tools also provide an opportunity to counter terrorist threats like never before.
We have agreed upon a range of actions that will enhance our collective effort to counter the threat of terrorism and violent extremism. This includes practical collaboration and joint assessment on emerging threats, including online youth radicalisation, to share expertise, strengthen prevention responses, and identify practical and proven solutions.
MAJOR EVENT SECURITY
Major event security is becoming increasingly complex. The scale, visibility and interconnected nature of modern events mean that planning must extend far beyond venues and crowd management to encompass borders, critical infrastructure, cyber resilience, counter-drone capabilities and transnational threat disruption. As the Five Countries prepare to host a number of significant events, including the 2028 and 2032 Olympic Games, it is critical that we remain equipped to address a range of threats and ensure these events remain safe, secure, and welcoming for all.
We recognise the importance of sharing information, best practices, and lessons learned from major events, including the successful co-hosting of the 2026 FIFA World Cup by the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The Five Countries will strengthen practical collaboration on pre-event intelligence, threat assessment and disruption activities. This will be through, enhanced cooperation on counter-drone capabilities, counter-intelligence strategies, and counterfeit disruption. Our cooperation will enhance our individual resilience to national security threats and will support the safe and secure delivery of future events.
TRANSNATIONAL, SERIOUS AND ORGANISED CRIME
Transnational, Serious and Organised Crime remains a priority for our countries as criminal networks continue to target the vulnerable through fraud, scams, and the spread of illicit synthetic drugs in our regions.
We are bolstering our efforts to protect our communities from being taken advantage of by online- and cyber-enabled fraud and scams. These scam centres are led by sophisticated criminal networks and are responsible for large-scale fraud, illicit finance, human trafficking, and other abuse, causing widespread economic and personal harm. The threat is growing fast; criminals continue to exploit our communities who are not only losing large sums of money but ending up in severe financial and mental stress. This is largely driven by artificial intelligence-enabled technology and a more dispersed network of criminal enterprises.
The Five Countries are sharing information, deepening practical partnerships with industry, and focusing on the scam centre locations that have the biggest impact on our communities. We will partner with countries where these criminal groups operate, building their resilience and strengthening their ability to stop scams at the source and tackle the challenge head on. Our unified approach is integral to disrupting the criminals that prey on our communities, take advantage of the vulnerable, and cause harm across all parts of our societies.
The Five Countries acknowledge and reaffirm our commitment to combatting the significant health and security risks that narcotics pose to citizens and societies. Together, we will promote greater action to disrupt the illicit supply of synthetic drugs and precursor chemicals, and to support regions impacted by transshipment such as the Pacific.
We recognise the importance of closer cooperation with international partners and institutions to strengthen controls and reduce diversion at the source and along transit routes. We, the Five Countries, will take forward practical, coordinated actions that will address shared supply chain vulnerabilities and reduce harm across our respective regions. This will include collective action to target those involved in the illicit production and shipment of synthetic drugs, and their precursors, and working with international partners to improve regulation of these industries to reduce global synthetic drug flows.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND NATIONAL SECURITY
The Five Countries recognise and commit to actively shaping opportunities to drive prosperity, enhance public services, and empower citizens through advancements in artificial intelligence, while balancing and countering the possible risks to national security when used by malicious actors.
We have committed to deepen collaboration with industry on shared national security priorities and public safety, including enabling timely access to frontier models to support secure innovation and strengthen cyber security. We will work together to ensure the safe, secure and responsible application of artificial intelligence to the benefit of our communities.
To support a coordinated response to artificial intelligence-related national security risks, the Five Countries discussed the national security and public safety implications of artificial intelligence models and characteristics of an artificial intelligence model that may require additional government scrutiny. Our nations also shared lessons from respective national artificial intelligence tabletop exercises to help build our collective resilience to risks.
CONCLUSION
The Five Countries acknowledge and reaffirm our previous commitments to work closely together on strengthening the integrity of our borders, deterring irregular migration, and tackling online harms. We aim to protect children and other vulnerable people, including through meaningful engagement with victims and survivors, and through exploring how new technologies can assist in law enforcement efforts to promote safer online environments. Further, we recognise the role of private and secure communication technologies in protecting privacy and other fundamental rights. Equally, we reaffirm that lawful access to data remains essential to our shared ability to detect, prevent, investigate, and prosecute the most serious crimes, and we commit to working together and with industry to ensure these capabilities are maintained.
Our continued collaboration through the Five Country Ministerial reaffirms the strong and unified partnership between our nations. Our shared history of trust and cooperation, common values, and commitment to defending the security of our communities underpin our ability to collectively respond to evolving challenges. Together, we reaffirm our commitment to act decisively and strengthen practical cooperation that delivers outcomes that enhance our shared security and keep our citizens safe, secure, and prosperous. We are stronger together.