Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida have signed a joint declaration on defence cooperation. 

The updated joint declaration is intended to lay out a path for closer cooperation between Australia and Japan over the next decade, following a meeting between the two leaders at the annual Australia-Japan Leaders' Meeting in Perth. 

The new deal updates a 2007 pact signed by John Howard and Shinzo Abe.

“The level of interaction which we have reflects very much the special strategic partnership that Australia and Japan have. We two countries really matter to each other now more than ever,” Mr Albanese said over the weekend. 

The agreement says Australia and Japan “will consult each other on contingencies that may affect our sovereignty and regional security interests, and consider measures in response”. 

Bryce Wakefield from the Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA) says the deal brings the two countries “towards a mutual security guarantee”, but does not make explicit promises or go as far as US security treaties with Japan and Australia. 

“For Japan, this is a new way about thinking about security,” he told the ABC. 

“It has been so heavily reliant on the US-Japan security alliance in the past, but it's now leaning towards a more networked idea of security with key partners like Australia.”

The declaration says Australia and Japan will “expand and deepen practical cooperation and further enhance interoperability between the Australian Defence Force and the Japan Self-Defense Forces through more sophisticated joint exercises and operations, multilateral exercises with partners, mutual use of facilities including maintenance, asset protection, and personnel links and exchanges”.

Mr Albanese says the document sends a “strong signal” of “strategic alignment”.

“Our commitment to consult each other on contingencies is a natural step in efforts to support the security and stability of the region,” he said.

“It shows the responsibility we share for security in our region and towards one another.”

The deal calls for the two nations to build a framework for secure supply chains, promote information sharing and collaboration, enhancing research, investment and commercial arrangements between Japanese and Australian critical minerals projects.

Mr Albanese and Mr Kishida both expressed support for a regional transition to net zero carbon emissions and boosting investment in clean energy tech.

Australian Strategic Policy Institute executive director Justin Bassi says it is a “highly significant” declaration, and “not merely an anodyne summary of the bilateral relationship”.

“This is a clear description of its intimacy in relation to how the two countries see the world, their roles in it and the challenges that must be faced head-on,” he said.

“The commitment to consult on contingencies and consider response measures further elevates the partnership and should be viewed as a clear sign of both countries' assessment of the strategic environment.

“And it is noteworthy that this commitment is in the point that focuses on the next 10 years.”