Multilateral Policy and Human Rights (MPD)

Engaging with the multilateral system is a key pillar of Australia's foreign policy, and Australia is firmly committed to effective global cooperation, including through the United Nations (UN). Australia is a founding member of the UN and has been an active participant in the United Nations since its establishment in 1945, serving on the UN Security Council five times.

The Commonwealth is a unique grouping of 56 developed and developing nations spread over every continent and ocean in the world. Its membership reflects many religions, ethnicities, languages and cultures and its combined population of over two billion people account for approximately 30 per cent of the world's population. More than 60 percent of the Commonwealth population is aged 29 or under (representing one in three of the world's young people).