Editing Foreign relations of Australia (section)

=== Membership of international organizations and groupings ===
{{see also|Australia and the United Nations}}

One of the drafters of the UN Charter, Australia has given firm support to the United Nations system. Australia held the first Presidency of the [[United Nations Security Council|Security Council]] in 1946 and provided the first military observers under UN auspices a year later, to Indonesia. It has been a member of the [[United Nations Security Council|Security Council]] a further four times, in 1956–57, 1973–74, 1986–87 and 2013–14.<ref>*[https://www.unaa.org.au/learn/australia-and-the-un/australia-and-un-security-council/ Australia and the UN Security Council]* United Nations Association of Australia. Retrieved 21 January 2022.</ref>  It has been regularly elected a member of the [[United Nations Economic and Social Council|Economic and Social Council]] most recently for 2020–22, a member of the [[United Nations Human Rights Council]] in 2018–20 and its predecessor the [[United Nations Commission on Human Rights|UN Commission on Human Rights]] in the 1990s. Australia takes a prominent part in many other UN activities, including peacekeeping, disarmament negotiations, and narcotics control.  In September 1999, acting under a UN Security Council mandate, Australia led an international coalition to restore order in East Timor upon Indonesia's withdrawal from that territory.  Australia has also been closely engaged in international development cooperation and humanitarian assistance through the [[Specialized agencies]], Funds and Programmes and Regional Commissions of the United Nations and major International Financial Institutions, in particular the [[World Bank]], the [[International Monetary Fund]], the [[Asian Development Bank]] and the [[Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank]].

Australia is a member of the [[G20]], the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] (OECD), and the [[Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation|APEC]] forum.  It is active in meetings of the [[Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting|Commonwealth Heads of Government]], the [[Pacific Islands Forum]] and other Pacific Islands regional organizations and the [[Indian Ocean Rim Association]].  It has been a leader in the [[Cairns Group]] – countries pressing for agricultural trade reform in the [[Uruguay Round]] of the [[General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade]] (GATT) negotiations. Australia is also a member of [[MIKTA]],  an informal and diverse middle power partnership between Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey and Australia, led by its foreign ministers, which seeks to promote an effective, rules-based global order.

Australia has devoted particular attention in the early 21st century to promoting regional architecture centred around the countries of the [[Association of Southeast Asian Nations]] (ASEAN), to support dialogue on political, security and economic challenges in the Indo-Pacific region. Australia is an active participant in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and the ASEAN sponsored [[East Asia Summit]]. Australia's place at the 2005 inaugural summit was only secured after it agreed to [[doi:10.1093/chinesejil/jms057|reverse its policy and accede]] to ASEAN's [[Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia]]. Australia had been reluctant to sign the treaty out of concerns regarding how it would affect Australia's obligation under other treaty arrangements including ANZUS.