Australia sees itself as an Indo-Pacific regional power with global interests. Australia and Germany have been linked since 2013 by a comprehensive strategic partnership, which was expanded in 2021. This has paved the way for closer cooperation in business and research, in a multilateral context and also on security matters.

Germany is Australia’s second most important trading partner in Europe (after the UK). Germany’s main exports to Australia are motor vehicles, medicines and pharmaceutical products as well as machinery. Australia’s principal exports to Germany are agricultural products, gold and other precious metals, coins and energy sources. In the cooperation between Germany and Australia, the fields of energy – including green hydrogen – and critical raw materials are of particular interest. Negotiations have been ongoing since 2018 on a free trade agreement between the EU and Australia in order to further strengthen economic exchange.

Australia and Germany have a long tradition of close cultural ties. Germans were among the first European settlers in Australia, and it is estimated that up to one million Australians have German roots.

There are Goethe-Instituts and German schools in Sydney and Melbourne. The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) has an information centre in Sydney. Some 75,000 people are learning German as a foreign language in Australia, around three-quarters of them in schools and one-quarter at universities and other institutions. The two countries cooperate intensively in the field of higher education – the number of partnerships between German and Australian higher education institutions has risen to over 600 within the last few years.