Vanuatu and Australia are poised to sign a reshaped and reformed broader strategic agreement in September that will supersede the stalled 2022 bilateral security agreement. In addition to boosting Vanuatu’s security sector, the new agreement—worth $500 million—will also support broader infrastructure assistance, economic development and investment in climate resilience.

While Vanuatu is likely to continue to engage a broad range of security partners, the agreement with Australia demonstrates the importance of that partnership as well as Australia’s ability to listen and adapt to the needs of its Pacific neighbours.

Vanuatu’s main security force is the Vanuatu Police Force (VPF). It comprises nearly 1000 personnel and two specialised arms: the Vanuatu Mobile Force (VMF), a paramilitary group responsible for maintaining stability and delivering disaster relief; and the Police Maritime Wing, which focuses on illegal fishing.

In the coming years, the VPF aims to grow to more than 1,500 personnel, and have a policing presence on all of the country’s inhabited islands. On top of its community policing responsibilities, the VPF’s main challenges include responding to environmental and climate threats and combatting illegal fishing.

One day, Vanuatu could seek to reshape the VMF into a standalone military, a proposal that has been put forward several times in the country’s 40-year history. A military would meet similar domestic objectives as the VMF but increase opportunities for peacekeeping and other international activities. However, it would require significant investment from foreign partners to support training, infrastructure development and equipment.

Vanuatu will likely continue to seek multiple partners to support the development of its security forces, although Australia is already providing most of the support. With the Nakamal agreement expected to include a $100 million commitment to security assistance, Australia will ensure it remains ‘partner of choice’ in the delivery of training and equipment. The agreement is unlikely to contain ‘veto’ powers similar to those in agreements with Nauru and Tuvalu.

The diagram below gives an overview of Vanuatu’s key security partners and the types of support they provide to its security forces. The icons don’t reflect the full scale of assistance. For example, support could involve a single event with a specific outcome or a comprehensive, ongoing support package.

Australia has helped upgrade Vanuatu’s Cook and Tiroas barracks, built new police infrastructure and provided vehicles under the Vanuatu Australia Policing and Justice Program. Australia’s gifting of a Guardian-class patrol boat in 2021, alongside ongoing maritime support and training, has also played a critical role in Vanuatu’s maritime security. Australia’s ongoing support is underpinned by the Defence Cooperation Program, which provides a range of support to the country’s security forces, including in training, equipment and maintenance. Australia also provides significant support to the Pacific Policing Initiative, a regional group of which Vanuatu is also a member.

New Zealand provides ongoing support to Vanuatu under a policing program with an emphasis on training, while the United States has sought to assist in combatting illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and transnational crime though a maritime law enforcement agreement that includes shiprider and shipboarding provisions. Britain and Japan have both contributed to security infrastructure, while Japan has also provided maritime security support including upgrades to Lapetasi Wharf in 2018 via a loan mechanism. Britain has also funded, with Australia, recent police infrastructure upgrades.

China’s support to Vanuatu has increased following the announcement of a new era of cooperation in 2023. Chinese police experts have since been sent to Vanuatu as well as forensic equipment and one 16-seater bus. A small group of Chinese police experts provide training to Vanuatu’s security forces and offer additional training back in China. Beijing has also contributed to infrastructure development at Luganville wharf and handed over three patrol boats in late 2024 which became operational this year.

Since an influx of greater interest in security cooperation and partnership in Vanuatu, dating back to around 2016, Vanuatu has staunchly remained ‘friends to all, enemies to none’. When Vanuatu first signed a bilateral security agreement with Australia in December 2022, it was questioned by several Vanuatu parliamentarians. Ultimately, prime minister Ishmael Kalsakau lost a vote of no confidence and was removed from leadership before the agreement could progress. Other leaders have since commented that the agreement was not properly circulated through Vanuatu’s council of ministers and was unlikely to be ratified in its current state.

Then, negotiations began on the Nakamal agreement. In July, Prime Minister Jotham Napat declared he would not sign a strategic agreement with Australia unless Canberra agreed to an unprecedented relaxation of its visa restrictions for Vanuatu citizens, stating that the agreement must be ‘win-win’. Due to historic sensitivities and misuse of Vanuatu passports through its citizenship by investment scheme, Australia couldn’t realistically meet those expectations without somewhat compromising its own security. While visa-free travel is sensibly off the table, there may still be some easing of broader travel requirements. Meanwhile, it appears both parties have found a way forward by highlighting the many other mutually beneficial aspects of the agreement.

Likewise, details regarding the security component of the agreement are yet to be released. But it appears that the Nakamal agreement is supplanting the 2022 security agreement. Signing the Nakamal agreement should be considered a great demonstration of Australia’s responsiveness to the needs of the region and willingness to provide much broader security assistance than just what is delivered to security forces.

But when it comes to partnering with the VPF, Australia should increase its support through training and equipment with a focus on increasing Vanuatu’s capacity to contribute to regional security initiatives. For Vanuatu to achieve its security ambitions, including faster response times to its many islands, there needs to be significant maritime infrastructure upgrades in most provinces which other like-minded partners should also be encouraged to support.

ASPI’s Friends to all: Competing for Pacific security partnerships series can be found here.