Pacific Community
Established: Established as the ‘South Pacific Commission’ on 6 February 1947 under the Canberra Agreement, signed by Australia, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
Name: The 37th South Pacific Conference in October 1997 held in Canberra Australia, celebrated 50 years of operations and members agreed to a name change for the organisation to the ‘Pacific Community’ (the original acronym ‘SPC’ has been retained to represent the ‘Secretariat of the Pacific Community’).
Location: Noumea, New Caledonia (Headquarters), Suva, Fiji (Community Education Centre, Agriculture and Forestry programs) and Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia (regional office).
Director-General: Dr Jimmie Rodgers (Solomon Islands)
Aims: non-political organisation, delivering social and economic technical development assistance to the region through advisory and consultative activities.
Work programs
- fisheries
- health
- agriculture
- community education
- socio-economic and statistical services
Staff numbers: approximately 350.
Australian contribution: Australia provided core funding of AUD5,800,000 in 2007-08.
Membership: there are 26 members of the Pacific Community, including: American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, France, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, the United States, Vanuatu, and Wallis and Futuna. The United Kingdom withdrew at the beginning of 1996 from SPC, rejoined in 1998 and withdrew again in January 2005.
Contact Details for Further Information
If you have any further questions about the Pacific regional organisations, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade may be able to help you. Please contact:
Director, Pacific Regional Section
Phone: (02) 6261 2224
Fax: (02) 6261 2661