Relationship dossier
Australia
Timor-Leste
Relationship assessment
Substantial cooperation, alongside lasting mistrust over maritime negotiations and espionage.
Australia toward Timor-Leste
+35Australia has provided development and security assistance to Timor-Leste and played a leading role in the 1999 international intervention that helped restore security after the independence vote. It also negotiated the 2018 maritime-boundary treaty with Timor-Leste. Australia’s espionage operation during earlier maritime negotiations seriously damaged trust.
Timor-Leste toward Australia
+30Timor-Leste pursued negotiations with Australia to settle their maritime boundary and concluded the 2018 treaty establishing it. Timor-Leste also used international conciliation to advance those negotiations. The espionage controversy remains a source of mistrust in the relationship.
Overall relationship
+35The relationship has a durable cooperative foundation in Australian assistance and security engagement, reinforced by the 2018 maritime-boundary settlement. However, the history of espionage during negotiations over maritime resources created a serious breach of trust. Cooperation is meaningful, but the legacy of that dispute and uncertainty around resource development arrangements remain important features.
How 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
Australia and Timor-Leste have a substantial cooperative relationship, including Australian security and development assistance and a 2018 treaty resolving their maritime boundary dispute. Cooperation has been complicated by Australia’s espionage operation during earlier maritime negotiations, which damaged trust. The relationship combines practical cooperation with a significant history of disagreement over maritime resources and negotiations.
Areas of tension
- Australia’s espionage operation during maritime negotiations damaged Timor-Leste’s trust in the Australian government.
- Disagreement and uncertainty over development arrangements for the Greater Sunrise gas field.
Key developments
An Australian-led international force intervened in East Timor following the independence vote and ensuing violence.
Australia and Timor-Leste signed a treaty establishing their maritime boundaries.
Major uncertainties
- The extent and implementation of current Australian development and security cooperation are unclear.
- The status of arrangements for developing the Greater Sunrise gas field is uncertain.