Australia in the United States
Over the past 100 years, the United States-Australia relationship has gone from strength to strength.
Australia and the United States have stood shoulder to shoulder in every major conflict since 1918. Today the Alliance is stronger than ever, pursuing new and ambitious areas for collaboration, such as AUKUS, critical minerals, AI and Quantum to reinforce our shared strengths and empower us to meet future challenges.
Defence
AUKUS is transforming our partnership for the 21st century and is in our mutual interests. It will deploy more capable boats in the Indo Pacific to maintain military balance and deter adversaries, deliver a $3 billion investment from Australia into the US submarine industrial base, create manufacturing and trade jobs, and deliver advanced weapons and technology to our warfighters.
Critical Minerals
Australia has the critical minerals the United States needs to sustain and grow its defence, advanced technology, and energy security manufacturing supply chains. Australia has invested $3.3 billion into its Critical Minerals Facility, introduced an $800 million Strategic Reserve, and signed an $8.5 billion framework with the United States to create diverse, resilient supply chains.
Critical Technology
Australia has abundant renewable energy resources, existing and expanding digital infrastructure, and world-leading industry and research talent. Australia is also among the top five markets globally for data centre capacity. The technology sector is already Australia’s third-largest industry, employing 1 in 16 workers and contributing A$167 billion to our economy every year.
Investment
Australia is increasing its investment into the United States. Our superannuation (pension) capital is helping the US economy grow. By 2035, for every four dollars Australians save for retirement, one dollar will be helping businesses and projects in the US. This growth is driven by the sheer scale of Australia’s pension system, which is on track to become the second-largest pool of capital globally by 2029.
Bilateral Relations
In 2018, Australia and the United States marked a centenary of mateship – a friendship first formed in the trenches of World War I during the Battle of Hamel on 4 July 1918. The two countries maintain a strong relationship, characterised by cultural similarities and robust bilateral arrangements. There are strong formal structures of cooperation between Australia and the United States spanning foreign policy, defence and security, intelligence, development, energy, environment, education, law, trade and investment. The Australia-United States Alliance and the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA) are central to the bilateral relationship, which also benefits from widespread collaboration across government, academia, and business.
Australia and the United States established diplomatic relations on 8 January 1940. Following the establishment of Australian and US Legations in March and July 1940 respectively, the White House announced the elevation of the Legations to Embassy status on 9 July 1946. Australia's first Ambassador to the United States, Norman J O Makin, presented his credentials to the US Government on 11 September 1946. The first US Ambassador to Australia, Robert Butler, presented his credentials on 25 September 1946.
Stats and Facts
- Over 10,000 Australian companies sell to or operate in the United States
- Australian companies employ an estimated 117,000 people in the United States
- Australian companies invested an estimated US $20.9 billion on new capital projects in the US between January 2003 and February 2017
- Over 1.3 million Australian tourists visit the United States each year
- Australian visitors spend over US $8.7 billion in the US, supporting thousands of jobs across all 50 states
- Australia has around 500 defence personnel and their families posted in the United States
- Australia’s defence presence in the US is spread across over 30 states
- Our 75 year old intelligence sharing relationship has helped make both our countries safer and more secure.
- Australia produces almost 4% of new knowledge to the world, with only 0.3% of the population
- Nearly 40,000 joint scientific publications between AU and the US between 2010-14
- The US is Australia’s largest research collaborator
- Australia is the seventh most popular study abroad destination for US students
- The US is one of the most popular outbound destinations for Australian students
- Australian athletes are increasingly making their presence felt across professional sports leagues in the United States – most notably the NBA and NFL – as well as in college sports
- Australia has a strong track record of hosting major sporting events including: 2000 Olympics, the Rugby World Cup, the ICC Cricket World Cup, the Asian Football Cup and Netball World Cup
- Australia is a crucial partner to the United States’ space program. Our facilities helped with the Apollo 11 moon landing and remain vital to space exploration today
- Today, US marines are stationed in Darwin in Australia’s north, and our servicemen and women are working together in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.