Programs & Projects

The Pacific Islands Program

The Pacific Islands Program

A focus on Pacific Islands has been a central component of the Lowy Institute’s work for more than a decade. We research contemporary challenges facing the Pacific islands region in areas including geostrategic competition, sustainable economic development, governance and leadership challenges, poverty alleviation, and Australia’s relationship with Pacific countries and organisations. We also hold major conferences, workshops, dialogues and exchanges. We have produced influential work on Australia’s Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands, the 2006 Fiji Coup, normalising Australia’s bilateral relationship with Fiji, Australia’s bilateral relationship with Papua New Guinea, the future development challenges of Papua New Guinea, the economic benefits of greater labour mobility between Australia and the South Pacific, security and resilience dynamics in the Pacific, and foreign aid flows in the Pacific.

The Institute manages four major projects focusing on the Pacific:

The Pacific Research Program (PRP) is a consortium partnership between the Lowy Institute and the Australian National University’s Department of Pacific Affairs and Development Policy Centre, with the support of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The PRP is designed to be a globally pre-eminent centre of excellence for research on the Pacific. Read more details .

The program contributes to the Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map which is supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and is designed to enhance aid effectiveness in the Pacific.

The Australia-PNG Network is a project supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, designed to foster people-to-people links between Australia and Papua New Guinea. Read more details.

The South Pacific Fragile States Project was a project supported by the Department of Defence to produce independent research and forward looking analysis on the key drivers of instability in the South Pacific and the associated security challenges for Australia and the wider region. Read more details.

The Mapping Foreign Assistance in the Pacific Project

The Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map is an analytical tool designed to enhance aid effectiveness in the Pacific by improving coordination, alignment, and accountability of foreign aid through enhanced transparency of aid flows. The Pacific Aid Map has collected data on close to 13,000 projects in 14 countries supplied by 62 donors from 2011 onwards. All data has been made freely available on this interactive platform, allowing users to investigate and manipulate the information in a variety of ways. The Pacific Aid Map is supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.


Country profiles from Pacific Islands countries can be found here.

The Chinese Aid in the Pacific map is no longer maintained, and the data can be found in the Acidic Aid Map.

Experts
Latest publications
News and media
Director, Pacific Islands Program
Project Director, Australia–Papua New Guinea Network
Nonresident Fellow, Pacific Islands Program
Deputy Director, Indo-Pacific Development Centre
Research Fellow, Pacific Aid Map
Nonresident Fellow
Nonresident Fellow
Nonresident Fellow
Australia’s aping Trump to foil China in the Pacific. But will it work?
Commentary
Australia’s aping Trump to foil China in the Pacific. But will it work?
Originally published in The Sydney Morning Herald
Looking through a Pacific Islands lens: Access, accountability, and alignment in global engagements
Reports
Looking through a Pacific Islands lens: Access, accountability, and alignment in global engagements
A report of the Lowy Institute’s Geopolitics in the Pacific project.
Reducing the role of cash in Pacific Island economies
Reducing the role of cash in Pacific Island economies
In the Pacific Islands region, cash is king. But a transformation to digital financial services could unlock economic dividends needed now.The undertaking would be no small feat…
Women are underfunded in the Pacific Islands
Data Snapshot
Women are underfunded in the Pacific Islands
Development dollars are missing their gender equality target in the region
The Great Game in the Pacific Islands
Data Snapshot
The Great Game in the Pacific Islands
Pacific Islanders have found their region, previously undervalued by larger powers, now a focal point for strategic competition.
Western banks are vacating the Pacific, and Nauru is turning to China
Western banks are vacating the Pacific, and Nauru is turning to China
Nauru has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Bank of China “to explore solutions and options to its banking issues”. The China–Nauru MOU will cause further…
Australian Associated Press
11 April 2025
ABC RN Breakfast
20 February 2025
ABC Pacific Beat
20 February 2025
ABC
13 February 2025
Canberra Times
13 February 2025
The Australian Financial Review
14 January 2025