Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Melbourne this week to disrupt the Land Forces International Land Defence Exposition, where defence companies from around the world showcase their latest weapons designs and technologies.

Activists have been protesting the use of such weapons, particularly accusations of their use against Palestinian civilians by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.

With the Melbourne fair this week, there has also been renewed attention on Australia’s arms exports and imports. So how much do we know about where Australia sends its weapons and how many weapons it imports?

What is reported?

The government limits the information publicly available on arms exports and imports for security and trade reasons.

Australian exports include both military and dual-use goods and technologies, such as computer components used in weapons. There is a strict export control system in place to prevent weapons from falling into the hands of our adversaries and to ensure they meet our obligations under international law.

But the system has been criticized for its lack of transparency, with Australia only publicly reporting recipient countries for items it is required to disclose under the Arms Trade Treaty, or in some cases during parliamentary hearings or other similar processes.

Separately, Australia’s Defence Export Office publishes quarterly reports with very basic information, such as the number and types of export applications it receives and the total value of permits issued. It only identifies export permits for “end users” by continent, not country.

In 2023-2024, the office issued more than 4,000 export licences for defence purposes, with the value of the licences issued estimated at more than AUD 100 billion.

Unlike other countries, Australia does not specify what types of goods can be imported or exported.

The government also does not report how many of the permits issued are actually used by companies to trade goods. The flow of military goods into and out of Australia is tracked through other processes, such as customs checks.

Finally, requests for additional information are typically met with opposition from the government on the grounds that such disclosure would violate security or trade secrets.

Read more: In the wake of the war in Gaza, how much do we know about Australia’s arms exports? Answer: very little

However, although not authoritative, information on Australian exports can be gathered from a variety of sources. This includes reports from exporting companies themselves, reports sent by exporters to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and statements made in Parliament and other government reports.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) also tracks arms shipments between countries by assessing public information. Some countries provide information directly to their analysts.

Below is data from SIPRI that we have collected, which shows Australia’s export and import data for the latest five-year period from 2019 to 2023, based on publicly available information.

Arms exports from Australia

According to SIPRI, Australia ranked 13th in the world for overall military spending in 2022-23, spending $32.3 billion (A$49 billion), or about 1.9% of GDP.

Australia was also among the world’s top 20 arms exporters from 2019 to 2023, although its share of total global arms exports was just 0.6%, similar to Canada. This share increased from 0.3% in 2014 to 2018.

Meanwhile, the United States accounted for 42% of global arms exports between 2019 and 2023.

The map below shows the largest buyers of Australian arms over the five-year period. The three largest buyers were Canada (32% of Australia’s total exports), Chile (28%) and the United States (11%).

What do we know about Israel?

According to SIPRI, between 2019 and 2023, Israel imported weapons mainly from the United States (69%) and Germany (30%).

The Albanian government maintains that Australia has not supplied arms or ammunition to Israel in the past five years. This week it also explicitly supported the UK’s decision to restrict arms exports to Israel.

Some of what we know about Australia’s exports to Israel comes from questions put to MPs.

In June, the government said it had granted eight export permits for defence equipment to Israel since the Gaza war began last October. It said most of the items were sent to Israel for repair and then returned to Australian defence and law enforcement agencies for use.

However, the report does not cover components that are manufactured in Australia and sent to a central repository overseas where they are used in larger aircraft such as the F-35 jet, which can then be shipped to Israel from the United States or Europe.

What do we know about Ukraine?

In the case of Ukraine, Australia exported conventional weapons such as Bushmaster armoured vehicles and artillery, some of which were included in its public report, given the type of equipment supplied.

According to SIPRI, the largest sources of military goods to Ukraine are the United States, Germany and Poland.

Importing weapons to Australia

SIPRI data shows that between 2019 and 2023, Australia was the eighth largest arms importer, accounting for 3.7% of global arms imports.

During this period, the vast majority (80%) of imports came from the United States, followed by Spain (15%).

The types of goods Australia reported as importing from the U.S. include ships, aircraft, helicopters and missile defense systems. In addition, SIPRI noted that Australia has ordered 300 long-range missiles from the U.S. in 2023.

However, because these large defensive positions often take years to build up, delays in reporting import data are quite common.

For example, Australia’s recently announced contract with Hanwha, a Korean arms company, to produce artillery and armoured vehicles will not be included in these statistics because some vehicle and artillery components will be manufactured at the plant in Geelong, Australia, while others will not be delivered during this reporting period.

In addition, while export controls apply to goods that are manufactured elsewhere and brought into Australia, some authorisations are required to import know-how to build controlled defence goods in Australia. This is another reason why imports such as these may not appear in public reports.

Lauren Sanders has previously received research funding for export controls from the Australian Next Generation Technology Fund and the University of Queensland. She is a lawyer who provides advice on the application of international law, but does not practice law in relation to export controls. The views expressed in this article are her own and do not represent the views of any organisation with which she is affiliated.