Bilateral relations

Overview

Australia and Bangladesh share strong and growing economic and people-to-people links and have a long history of working together to achieve development outcomes and respond to humanitarian crises.

Australia was among the first countries to recognise Bangladesh after it achieved independence in 1971 and on 31 January 1972 Australia established our resident mission in Dhaka. Australia and Bangladesh celebrated 50 years of diplomatic relations in 2022.

Australia and Bangladesh have a shared interest in a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indian Ocean region.

High‑level visits and meetings

Recent bilateral visits and meetings include:

• August 2026, the Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs and Assistant Minister for International Education, the Hon Julian Hill MP, visited Dhaka to deepen bilateral ties.
• April 2026, the Ambassador for Counter Modern Slavery, People Smuggling and Human Trafficking visited Dhaka and the Cox’s Bazar refugee camps.
• April 2026, a Parliamentary delegation, led by the Hon Milton Dick MP, Speaker of the House of Representatives, visited Dhaka to deepen parliamentary ties.
• December 2025, the seventh Senior Officials’ Talks and fourth Joint Working Group under the Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement were held in Dhaka.
• October 2025, Minister for International Development, Multicultural Affairs and Small Business, the Hon Anne Aly MP, visited Bangladesh to highlight our bilateral development cooperation. She also visited Cox’s Bazar to see the impact of Australia’s humanitarian assistance for displaced Rohingyas.
• August 2025, the inaugural Defence Policy Talks were held in Canberra.
• February 2025, the Ambassador for Climate Change, Kristin Tilley, visited Dhaka. She met the Hon Adviser for Disaster Management and Relief Faruk-e-Azam, the Hon Adviser for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Syeda Rizwana Hasan and then Foreign Secretary Mr Md. Jashim Uddin.
• November 2024, the sixth Senior Officials’ Talks and third Joint Working Group under the Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement were held in Canberra.

Trade and investment relationship

Bangladesh and Australia have a growing economic relationship, with total trade at $5.5 billion in 2025, growing at an average of 17.8 per cent every year over the past five years.

Australia and Bangladesh are pursuing new opportunities to promote trade and investment under the Australia-Bangladesh Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement. Bangladesh is a growing market for Australian exports. Exports reached $3.8 billion in 2025, making Bangladesh our 22nd largest export market. The combination of natural fibres exports from Australia and our ready-made garments (RMG) imports from Bangladesh make our economies highly complementary.

As a Least Developed Country, products from Bangladesh enter Australia duty-free and quota-free. Products from Bangladesh will continue to be able to enter Australia duty-free and quota-free when Bangladesh graduates from the Least Developed Country status.

While challenges remain to doing business, Bangladesh offers long-term commercial opportunities to Australian companies operating in education services, food and beverages, agribusiness and energy and minerals. Australian businesses are well placed to provide services and equipment for energy and infrastructure developments.

For more information on developing commercial links with Bangladesh, see the Austrade website.

People-to-people links

People-to people links are increasing, with 73,000 Bangladesh-born people in Australia, (2024 ABS). Sporting links, particularly cricket, help strengthen ties. The Bangladesh men’s cricket team toured Darwin in August 2026, securing their first-ever test victory in Australia.

In 2024, over 18,000 Bangladeshi students enrolled to study in Australia—a 50 per cent increase from the previous year and the highest number on record, taking 12th place in student numbers.

Security cooperation

We share an interest in a peaceful, secure and prosperous Indian Ocean region that supports sovereign and resilient states. Our increased cooperation with Bangladesh spans maritime security, the prevention of irregular migration, and countering violent extremism and transnational crime.

Regional and global issues

Australia and Bangladesh work closely on a range of common strategic interests in regional and global forums, including as members of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime.

More broadly, Australia and Bangladesh play active roles in forums such as the Commonwealth, the World Trade Organization and the United Nations (UN). Bangladesh has provided large numbers of personnel to UN peacekeeping operations around the world, including in Cambodia, Bosnia, Somalia, Haiti, Timor-Leste and in Africa.

Bangladesh has shown generosity in hosting more than 1.1 million Rohingya displaced from Myanmar. The ongoing humanitarian crises in Bangladesh and Myanmar are the largest and most complex in our region. Australia will continue to complement our humanitarian assistance for the Rohingya crisis with our efforts in advocating for accountability for the atrocities in Rakhine State; and working with Myanmar, Bangladesh and other regional and international partners to find a durable solution to the crisis.

Development assistance

Australia is a long-standing partner of Bangladesh in addressing poverty and providing humanitarian assistance for Rohingyas who have fled Myanmar and their host communities. Our development cooperation program includes focused support through UNDP for social security reform, and long-term strategic partnerships with BRAC and other NGOs, integrated into national policy frameworks.

More information on Australia's development partnership to Bangladesh.