Australia and India are in early-stage talks to establish a landmark bilateral treaty focused on combating cybercrime—a move that reflects both countries’ growing concern over rising state-sponsored cyber threats and the limitations of existing legal frameworks.
In a statement, Brendan Dowling, Australia’s Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technologies, confirmed that both governments have expressed intent to forge a dedicated cybersecurity agreement that would facilitate real-time data sharing and faster response mechanisms to cross-border cyberattacks.
“The current MLAT [Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty] process is not smooth and impedes our ability to cooperate,” Dowling said.
“There have been conversations between India and Australia to set up a bilateral cybersecurity-driven data-sharing agreement.”
“Conceptually, both countries agree upon the need for it—what hasn’t happened is a framework to make this happen, though the intent is there.”
Urgency fuelled by a surge in cyberattacks: The talks come against a backdrop of intensifying cyber threats targeting key infrastructure sectors across both countries. The Australian Signals Directorate’s (ASD) Annual Cyber Threat Report 2023–24 revealed a staggering 87,400 cybercrime reports, translating to one every six minutes.
Of the 1,100 significant cybersecurity incidents ASD responded to during the year, nearly 11% were linked to critical infrastructure, including electricity grids, water utilities, education institutions, and transport networks.
Dowling said the rise in state-backed intrusions from countries such as Russia, China, and North Korea has prompted a reevaluation of traditional, slower legal cooperation tools, such as MLATs, which can take months to process urgent requests for information or assistance.
“There is interest on both sides to find ways for faster cooperation,” Dowling said.
“Both governments are looking at how they can share more intelligence in real time, and designate specific points of contact to streamline collaboration.”
Moving beyond multilateral channels
Australia and India currently share cybersecurity information through broader platforms such as the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) for Asia-Pacific and frameworks under the Quad alliance (comprising the US, India, Japan, and Australia). However, Dowling acknowledged these mechanisms often lack the speed and precision required to address imminent threats.
“CERTs are good for regional communication, but they are not enough for the level of cyber sophistication we’re now facing,” he explained.
“A bilateral treaty would allow India and Australia to speak directly and act faster.”
Dowling said the Quad has been helpful in shaping broader cyber cooperation, but direct, bilateral structures will be essential to address critical incidents such as ransomware attacks, data breaches, and infrastructure sabotage.
Legal compatibility and strategic alignment: Experts believe a bilateral treaty between Australia and India is legally feasible, given that both countries have been strengthening their respective data protection regimes. India recently passed the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, while Australia is undergoing legislative reform in the wake of high-profile data breaches affecting Optus and Medibank.
The proposed agreement would likely streamline legal permissions, designate cyber liaisons within law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and create a real-time incident response channel between New Delhi and Canberra.
Cybersecurity analysts view the move as a natural extension of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership signed between India and Australia in 2020, which has increasingly included digital cooperation and critical technologies as central pillars.
“This is a necessary step for both countries as they grow increasingly interlinked through trade, technology, and regional security,” said a senior cyber policy expert based in Melbourne.
“Cybersecurity is no longer a back-office issue — it is national security.”
A strategic message to cyber adversaries: Australia’s push for bilateral treaties also sends a broader strategic message to adversarial nations, signalling that Canberra is seeking deeper intelligence-sharing partnerships to counteract grey-zone warfare tactics in the digital domain.
The India-Australia cyber treaty, once formalised, could serve as a template for similar agreements with other like-minded nations, especially in the Indo-Pacific region.
“We want to work with countries who value digital trust, who uphold responsible state behaviour in cyberspace, and who recognise that international law applies online just as much as it does offline,” Dowling said.
As India and Australia edge closer to formalising a cybercrime treaty, the deal marks another step in their deepening strategic partnership, with shared interests in security, technology, and safeguarding the future of open, secure digital infrastructure.
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