Joint declaration on establishing a Parseria Foun Ba Era Foun (New Partnership for a New Era) between the Government of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and the Government of Australia

1. Timor-Leste and Australia are partners and neighbours with a shared history, values, region and future. Recognising the strength of the partnership, His Excellency Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, Prime Minister of Timor-Leste and the Honourable Anthony Albanese MP, Prime Minister of Australia decide to establish a Parseria Foun ba Era Foun (“Parseria”), which is Tetum for a New Partnership for a New Era. In declaring the Parseria, both Governments commit to ongoing cooperation, consultation and mutual respect for national sovereignty.

Pillar One: Peace and Regional Integration

2. As close friends and neighbours, relations between Timor-Leste and Australia are underpinned by a common interest in each other’s success. We share a vision for a region that is peaceful, stable and prosperous. We will work together to uphold international law, protect human rights and prevent conflict.
3. Peace, security and stability are necessary preconditions for economic and social development in Australia, Timor-Leste and our shared region. We commit to regular communication, consultation and collaboration on our common security interests, including maritime security, efforts to prevent human trafficking, people smuggling, transnational crime and critical infrastructure.
4. Australia recognises that Timor-Leste's ASEAN membership is an historic achievement, and a significant milestone for Timor-Leste’s long-standing commitment to regional integration. Australia is proud to have supported Timor-Leste’s ASEAN journey from the beginning and will continue to support Timor-Leste’s priorities as an ASEAN Member State, so that ASEAN membership delivers direct benefits for the Timorese people and contributes positively to regional peace, stability and prosperity. We reaffirm our shared commitment to ASEAN centrality and the importance of ASEAN-led regional architecture that is open, transparent, rules-based and inclusive.
5. Our police, border security and immigration agencies will continue to work together to reinforce our shared security. We will further strengthen the Timor-Leste Police Development Program and cooperation under the Memorandum of Understanding on Migration and Border Management. We will continue to facilitate business and leisure travel between our countries, including through access for Timorese citizens to Australia’s 10-year Frequent Traveller Stream visa.
6. Recognising the importance of uplifting regional resilience to cyber risks, we will work closely to build cyber security skills and capabilities, enhance public awareness of cyber risks and strengthen cyber-related information sharing between law enforcement agencies.
7. Australia and Timor-Leste share a history of deep defence cooperation. We affirm our commitment to continuing to develop a modern defence relationship based on partnership, sovereignty and the interests of our two countries. Through the Defence Cooperation Program, we will further strengthen the mutually beneficial and longstanding collaboration between our defence forces to collectively contribute to national, regional and international stability and security.
8. As demonstrated by the 2018 Treaty Between Australia and the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste Establishing Their Maritime Boundaries in the Timor Sea (the Maritime Boundary Treaty), we reaffirm the value and importance of international rules and institutions, and resolving disputes peacefully in accordance with international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). We reaffirm the universal and unified character of UNCLOS which sets out the comprehensive legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out.
9. Recognising that climate change will exacerbate the frequency and intensity of natural disasters, we commit to offering to assist each other following significant disasters and to building mechanisms for improved coordination. Australia commits to strengthen support for locally-led disaster preparedness and recovery efforts, including through professional development. We express our support for international efforts, including through the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage, to assist countries and communities that are experiencing and particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change. We further commit to cooperation on climate change mitigation and adaptation, including through supporting the development and transfer of appropriate and accessible technologies and related capacity-building to support resilience and climate-responsive development.

Pillar Two: Prosperity and Resilience

10. Australia and Timor-Leste share an ambition for Greater Sunrise to be developed as soon as possible for the benefit of both States as envisioned by the historic Maritime Boundary Treaty. Guided by the same spirit of friendship and cooperation in which we agreed the Treaty and facilitated the Sunrise Joint Venture’s carrying out of the historic independent Concept Study in 2024, Australia and Timor-Leste commit to working closely together and with the Sunrise Joint Venture in good faith to develop an ambitious timeline to conclude the Petroleum Mining Code, Greater Sunrise Production Sharing Contract, and fiscal regime framework required under the Maritime Boundary Treaty, thus enabling concrete progress towards development of the resource. Australia’s Minister for Resources and Timor-Leste’s Minister for Petroleum and Mineral Resources further commit to close bilateral engagement, over the coming months, to directly oversee accelerated negotiations to finalise the above documents expeditiously.
11. Noting the Concept Study and the importance of Timor-Leste’s economic resilience, Australia and Timor-Leste encourage the Sunrise Joint Venture to make use of the Study and present to the States as soon as possible a Development Concept proposal for Greater Sunrise that can satisfy the requirements of the Maritime Boundary Treaty. We also commit to supporting the Sunrise Joint Venture to progress the project swiftly upon the States’ approval of a single Development Concept.
12. Australia acknowledges Timor-Leste's commitment to onshore processing and to the south coast Tasi Mane project. Australia will support any commercially viable solution to develop Greater Sunrise proposed by the Sunrise Joint Venture consistent with the Maritime Boundary Treaty. This is critical to advance our shared goal of ensuring the project supports economic diversification in Timor-Leste and delivers long-term sustainable socio-economic benefits for its people. Development of Greater Sunrise should support the economic, political and social stability of Timor-Leste, to which Australia is strongly committed. A stable, independent and prosperous Timor-Leste will be a beacon for other States in the region and is important to Australia.
13. As with past experience during management of the Joint Petroleum Development Area, Australia will assist Timor-Leste by sharing, through its relevant departments and regulatory agencies, technical and regulatory knowledge on health, safety, environmental and other relevant subjects. Australia would also establish an Infrastructure Fund to be used in Timor-Leste and allocate to it a fixed ten per cent share of total States’ upstream revenue from the Greater Sunrise project, funded entirely from Australia’s share of future revenue. Australia would establish the Fund once any commercially viable solution proposed by the commercial parties is agreed by the States consistent with the requirements of the Maritime Boundary Treaty. This commitment will see at least a third of Australia’s revenue from the project being provided to Timor-Leste via the Infrastructure Fund. The Fund would be established and co-designed in the spirit of partnership, with respect for Timor-Leste’s sovereignty and the importance of an established and mutually-endorsed LNG operator for Greater Sunrise.
14. We will continue our strong partnership to ensure Australia’s labour mobility programs are mutually beneficial and deliver positive economic and social outcomes for workers, their families and businesses in both countries. We will also work together to boost technical and vocational education and training (TVET) for Timorese youth. Through this partnership, Timor-Leste and Australia will work together towards enabling 10,000 Timorese workers to take up employment opportunities in Australia by 2027-28, including through the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme.
15. Timor-Leste and Australia will ensure our development cooperation promotes Timor-Leste's prosperity and resilience. Through locally-led development, we will support quality services; inclusive and sustainable economic growth; and efforts to ensure all Timorese people can equally thrive and prosper.
16. Timor-Leste and Australia are committed to working together in support of the implementation of Timor-Leste’s Strategic Development Plan 2011–2030, with a focus on economic diversification, job creation and the sustainable development of strategic sectors including petroleum, agriculture and tourism.
17. We commit to identifying and actioning opportunities to enhance private sector development, including through boosting two-way trade and investment as part of Invested: Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040. We will also partner to enable the delivery of infrastructure which generates sustainable economic growth and local employment in Timor-Leste, including through the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP). These efforts will have a particular focus on semi-skilled positions.
18. As a fellow maritime state, Australia respects Timor-Leste’s deep connections to the ocean. We will pursue opportunities to enhance our Blue Economy cooperation, including supporting the Policy and Action Plan for the Promotion of a Resilient and Sustainable Ocean Economy in Timor-Leste (2025-2035) and through exchanging lessons on marine ecotourism and the management of Marine Protected Areas.

Pillar Three: People-to-People and Institutional Linkages

19. We commit to deepening the friendships, collaborations and solidarity between the Timorese and Australian people. These links are built on common values, including a deep respect in both countries for democracy and human rights. 
20. We will continue to strengthen the education, cultural, social and religious connections between our communities, including through Community Friendship Groups, the Australian Volunteers Program, the Australian NGO Cooperation Program and Australia Awards scholarships.
21. We recognise the enduring bonds between Timorese and Australian veterans, maintained through Timor-Leste’s Council of Combatants of National Liberation. We will continue to strengthen the Anzac Day commemorations in Dili, and foster collaboration on historical and commemorative tourism to honour and preserve our shared history.
22. We will work to deepen institutional links by supporting twinning arrangements between government agencies and parliaments, and encourage twinning between civil society and media organisations.
23. We recognise that our youth are our future. We will work closely and invest in creating new education, training, employment and leadership development opportunities for Timorese youth, including for PALM scheme workers returning to Timor-Leste. We will also establish initiatives for emerging leaders in both countries to engage and build lifelong connections.

Joint Plan of Action

24. We task our Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and Minister for Foreign Affairs respectively to coordinate the formulation of a Joint Plan of Action to realise the Parseria. Both countries will review implementation, including through annual Senior Officials’ Talks.
25. The Foreign Ministers of Timor-Leste and Australia will endeavour to meet in-person at least once a year to discuss priorities for further enhancing relations between the two countries.