But the deal excludes the world's second-largest economy, China, several of whose neighbours are included.
However Australia is on its way to securing its own trade deal with the nation.
The China-Australia free trade agreement is due to be debated in Parliament next week but there are fresh warnings on how it could affect Australian jobs.
The Australian Government wants to bring it into force by the end of this year.
But before it can, it must pass through Parliament.
The Opposition maintains there are concerns over what it could mean for Australian jobs.
Labor's Trade and Investment spokeswoman, Penny Wong, says a new report confirms those fears.
"A report from the University of Adelaide which shows the China Free Trade Agreement does contain provisions in relation to labour market testing which are problematic, really confirming Labor's concerns."
The report was released by Dr Joanna Howe, a senior law lecturer at Adelaide University.
It outlines a chapter of the FTA that she says stops the Australian government from restricting the number of 457 visas issued to Chinese workers in two lower-skilled categories.
Dr Howe says this could lead to a cut to local wages.
"Employers will see they can hire overseas workers and it will be cheaper to do that, that there will be cost advantages. So over time, what we will see is that increasing segments of the Labour market will be ones where there's a large amount of Chinese workers to the detriment of local jobs, wages and conditions."
Dr Howe says it's likely to affect workers in most trade occupations, as well as engineers and nurses.
She says she would like to see better protection for these employees.
"The chapter needs to have stronger safeguards in terms of protecting local job opportunities, wages and conditions. And to do this we don't need to go back to China but the Australia government needs to pass legislation with these safeguards built in."
But the Government has dismissed the findings and accuses the Opposition of fear-mongering.
Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb points out the report was commissioned by the Electrical Trades Union, and he's told the ABC it's total nonsense.
"The arrangement that we struck in the China deal did not remove one worker protection from what already existed under the Labor government two years ago - not one."
Dr Howe denies the union had any editorial involvement in the assessment.
"It was really important to me that this be an academic, independent report. Its findings are completely independent of the ETU."
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