Australia welcomes agreement on development finance

The Australian Government welcomes the success of the Third Financing for Development Conference in Ethiopia. Today's agreement to the Addis Ababa Action Agenda will guide the coordination of global development finance for the next 15 years.

Australia's role in the negotiations was to help ensure the outcome was well aligned with Australia's development policy and the interests of our region, placing a strong emphasis on boosting each country's self-reliance, the critical importance of economic growth, private sector support and women's economic empowerment.

Today I announce that Australia is a founding partner of the Addis Tax Initiative which will support developing countries to strengthen their tax systems, increase domestic resource mobilisation and promote economic governance in developing countries.

The ATI commits Australia to doubling investments to support developing countries to strengthen their tax systems by 2020. Australia joined key partners, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Republic of Korea, Germany and the Netherlands, in endorsing the ATI.

Australia also joined the Innovation Call to Action on using science, technology and innovation to respond to global development challenges. The Call to Action supports the Government's policy to use innovation to revolutionise the delivery and effectiveness of Australia's aid program.