Relationship dossier
Australia
Heard Island and McDonald Islands
Relationship assessment
Australia administers Heard Island and McDonald Islands as an uninhabited external territory.
Australia toward Heard Island and McDonald Islands
+20The Australian government administers the territory and established the Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve in 2002.
Heard Island and McDonald Islands toward Australia
Not assessedHeard Island and McDonald Islands has no independent government or foreign policy; Australia administers the territory.
Overall relationship
Not assessedHow to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Heard Island and McDonald Islands is an uninhabited Australian external territory administered by the Australian government, which is responsible for its governance and environmental protection. The territory has no independent foreign policy. Australia established a marine reserve around the islands in 2002.
Key developments
Australia established the Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve.
Major uncertainties
- Details of the territory’s administrative arrangements and implementation of environmental protections are limited.