The two countries also pledged, in a joint communiqué released after the
annual Australia-US Ministerial Consultations, to pursue their efforts to defeat "terrorists and insurgents" in war-ravaged Iraq.
US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, his Australian counterpart Robert Hill, Australian Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, and US Deputy Secretary of State, Robert Zoellick, attended the Adelaide talks.
A convoy of cars carrying the men from their meeting at the town hall
ran the gauntlet of a small but vocal group of protesters who called them war criminals.
Scuffles broke out as the demonstrators, who object to Australia's commitment of troops to the US-led invasion of Iraq, were held back by lines of police.
"Both sides reaffirmed the critical importance of supporting the efforts of
the region's governments to defeat terrorism in Southeast Asia," the communique said.
Mr Downer later told a news conference that Australia and the United States
were "impressed" by Indonesia's recent achievements in countering terrorism.
Indonesia last week hunted down and killed one of the region's most wanted
men, Malaysian bombmaker Azahari Husin, who had been blamed for a string of deadly attacks including the Bali bombings in 2002 and 2005.
Indonesian courts have also convicted and sentenced several alleged members
of the Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah group for their role in the first Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
The statement gave no details of the new measures to combat terrorism,
saying only that they "emphasised the importance of encouraging governments and institutions that promote tolerance and work to counter extremism".
They also announced a programme of US strategic bomber training in
Australia as "part of their commitment to enhance combined training and
exercising".
US B-52, B-1 and B-2 aircraft would make regular visits to Australia for
joint training exercises, mainly in northern Australia at the Delamere Air
Weapons Range and the Royal Australian Airforce base in Darwin.
"Both sides underlined the continuing importance of their alliance as an
anchor of a permanent US security presence in the Asia-Pacific region and the United States' role in promoting security, prosperity and democracy in this part of the world," the statement said.
"They underlined the continued global threat of terrorism and the vital
importance of united international efforts to defeat it using all law
enforcement, diplomatic, financial, intelligence and military means."