Asia and the Pacific
Somalia and Australia
Australia and Somalia set up formal diplomatic relations on 20 April 2010. Australia has no embassy in Somalia; its main links are aid, peacekeeping in the 1990s and a Somali community of 18,401 people by ancestry in 2021. Australian aid peaked at US$63.1 million in the 2011 famine year and was US$1.5 million in 2024.
How do Somalia and Australia relate today?
The two countries have had formal diplomatic relations since 20 April 2010, according to an Australian parliamentary report cited by Wikipedia (Wikipedia, Foreign relations of Somalia). Neither has an embassy in the other's capital.
The links today are mostly people and aid. The 2021 Census counted 18,401 people of Somali ancestry in Australia, and 8,101 people born in Somalia (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021 Census QuickStats). Australian official aid to Somalia was US$1.5 million in 2024 (OECD, DAC2a aid data).
When did contact begin?
The earliest recorded state link is in fishing. Somalia set up fishing cooperatives at Eyl, Cadale and Baraawe in 1975 with Soviet trawlers (US Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, 1992). When Soviet personnel left Somalia in 1978, Australia and Italy supported these projects (Library of Congress, 1992).
Australia also mattered to Somalia's main export trade. In the 1980s Saudi Arabia banned Somali cattle over rinderpest, and the Library of Congress study noted claims that Saudi businessmen had invested in Australian ranches (Library of Congress, 1992). The ban left Somalia with a large budget deficit (Library of Congress, 1992).
Who are the ambassadors and envoys?
No resident ambassador has served in either capital. No list of Australian heads of mission accredited to Somalia was found in the sources reached for this page.
Who built the tie?
- The 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1 RAR) served in Baidoa in 1993 under the US-led Unified Task Force (Australian War Memorial, film record F04174).
- Abdullahi Alim, who came to Australia from Somalia as a refugee aged five, was Western Australia's Young Australian of the Year in 2017 (Auspire, 9 July 2020). He set up MYHACK, a hackathon to build tools against violent extremist propaganda (Auspire, 2020).
- Ben Murphy, Oxfam's humanitarian advocacy lead, spoke for aid groups on the 2015 money-transfer cuts (SBS News, 19 February 2015).
What agreements have they signed?
- 20 April 2010: establishment of diplomatic relations (Wikipedia, Foreign relations of Somalia).
No bilateral treaty appears in the sources reached for this page.
Which leaders have visited?
No state or ministerial visit in either direction was found in the sources reached for this page.
How much do they trade?
Trade is small. UN Comtrade records Australian exports to Somalia of:
- US$1.2 million in 2019 (UN Comtrade)
- US$1.0 million in 2021 (UN Comtrade)
- US$0.5 million in 2022 and 2023 (UN Comtrade, 2022; 2023)
- US$0.3 million in 2024 and US$0.8 million in 2025 (UN Comtrade, 2024; 2025)
Imports from Somalia stayed under US$130,000 a year in those years (UN Comtrade, 2022). Electrical equipment made up most Australian exports in 2024 (UN Comtrade, by product).
How much aid and money has gone in?
OECD figures for Australian official aid to Somalia, in current US dollars (OECD, DAC2a):
- 2006: US$2.4 million; 2007: US$3.1 million
- 2010: US$5.1 million
- 2011: US$63.1 million, the year of the famine
- 2012: US$16.3 million
- 2013 to 2016: between US$5.2 million and US$13.1 million a year
- 2017: US$14.3 million
- 2018 to 2020: US$6.9 million, US$9.2 million and US$3.1 million
- 2021 and 2022: US$0.7 million and US$1.4 million
- 2023: US$6.9 million
- 2024: US$1.5 million
Money also flows the other way through families. In February 2015 Westpac, the last major Australian bank serving money-transfer firms, was due to close their accounts at the end of March (SBS News, 19 February 2015). The closures were part of counter-terrorism measures, and an Oxfam Australia report warned they could push people in Somalia deeper into poverty (SBS News, 2015).
What about security?
Australia sent military personnel to both UN operations in Somalia, UNOSOM I in 1992 to 1993 and UNOSOM II in 1993 to 1995 (UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM I facts; UNOSOM II facts). The 1 RAR battalion group patrolled Baidoa in 1993 under the US-led task force (Australian War Memorial). See Foreign forces in Somalia and UN intervention, 1992 to 1995.
How does Australia deal with Somaliland and the member states?
Australia's 1993 deployment was in Baidoa, now in South West State (Australian War Memorial). No Australian office, agreement or stated position on Somaliland was found in the sources reached for this page.
Have there been disputes?
No dispute between the two governments is on record in the sources reached. The 2015 bank closures drew warnings from aid groups (SBS News, 2015).
How many Somalis live in Australia?
The 2021 Census counted 18,401 people of Somali ancestry and 8,101 born in Somalia, more than half of them in Victoria (ABS, 2021). See Australia (Somali diaspora).
Where does Australia stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?
Australia contributed troops to UNOSOM I and UNOSOM II (UN Peacekeeping). Australian votes and statements on Somalia at the Security Council were not covered in the sources reached for this page.
Related pages
Sources
- Wikipedia, Foreign relations of Somalia · en.wikipedia.org
- Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021 Census QuickStats · abs.gov.au
- OECD, DAC2a aid data · sdmx.oecd.org
- US Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study, 1992 · countrystudies.us
- Library of Congress, 1992 · countrystudies.us
- Australian War Memorial, film record F04174 · awm.gov.au
- Auspire, 9 July 2020 · auspire.org.au
- SBS News, 19 February 2015 · sbs.com.au
- UN Comtrade · comtradeapi.un.org
- UN Comtrade · comtradeapi.un.org
- UN Comtrade, 2022 · comtradeapi.un.org
- 2023 · comtradeapi.un.org
- UN Comtrade, 2024 · comtradeapi.un.org
- 2025 · comtradeapi.un.org
- UN Comtrade, by product · comtradeapi.un.org
- UN Peacekeeping, UNOSOM I facts · peacekeeping.un.org
- UNOSOM II facts · peacekeeping.un.org
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