Aid themes
Child protection
Development Through Sport
Disability
Disaster risk reduction
Economic growth
Education
Environment
Food security
Gender equality
Governance
Health
Human rights
Infrastructure
Millennium Development Goals
Mine action
Mining
Regional stability
Water and sanitation

Aid Themes overview

The fundamental purpose of Australian aid is to help people overcome poverty. Australia’s aid program is guided by five strategic goals, as set out in An Effective Aid Program for Australia: Making a real difference – delivering real results.

The strategic goals of the aid program are:

saving lives
promoting opportunities for all
sustainable economic development
effective governance, and
humanitarian and disaster response.

Australia works with governments of partner countries, mostly in the Asia-Pacific region, civil society organisations and multilateral agencies to achieve these goals. Funding decisions are guided by individual countries' development priorities, an assessment of poverty, Australia’s capacity to make a real and measurable difference and our national interest.

The thematic strategies listed below provide further detail to inform program decisions in particular sectors. Additional thematic strategies will be developed and published over time.

Saving lives: Improving the health of the world’s poor
Saving lives: Improving public health by increasing access to safe water and sanitation
Promoting opportunities for all: Education
Promoting opportunities for all: Gender equality and women’s empowerment
Promoting opportunities for all: Development for all: Towards a disability-inclusive Australian aid program 2009-2014
Sustainable economic development: Improving food security
Sustainable economic development: Transport, water, urban, energy and communications infrastructure
Effective governance