Australia's defence and foreign ministers will sit down with their United Kingdom counterparts for top-level talks on regional and global security issues, including the Middle East, Afghanistan and the South China Sea .
Defence Minister Marise Payne and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will attend the eighth Australia-United Kingdom Ministerial Consultations (AUKMIN) in London later on Friday.
The talks are hosted by UK Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.
AUKMIN is the principal forum for discussion of foreign policy, defence and strategic issues affecting Australia and the UK.
The ministers will talk about the continuing campaign against Islamic State in the Middle East as well as operations in Afghanistan and regional defence issues, including the South China Sea..
Both Australia and the UK have recently released defence white papers and there'll be discussion of ongoing defence collaboration.
Last year's AUKMIN in Sydney focused on the threat posed by IS and its ability to attract foreign fighters
That's an ongoing issue, although the tide has turned against IS in Iraq and Syria, with the organisation rapidly losing territory and fighters.
Combat aircraft from Australia and the UK are part of the multinational air campaign against IS.
Both Australia and the UK maintain modest military contingents in Afghanistan, supporting Afghan security forces. Australia's principal activity is mentoring at the UK-run Afghan National Army Officer Academy.
Earlier, Senator Payne attended the United Nations peacekeeping meeting in London, discussing how peacekeeping operations can be improved and how to lift participation of women.
She pledged an additional $1.2 million over five years to enhance regional UN peace operations online training plus $90,000 to support dissemination of UN Protection of Civilians guidelines and policy.
Last year, Australia pledged to provide strategic airlift support for UN peacekeeping operations in crisis situations.
That capability is subject to a UN accreditation process and Senator Payne said the Australian offer had now progressed to level two, with level three regarded as the highest level of readiness.
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