People working for non-profit organisations could face more stringent vetting under a proposal to reduce the risk of them being infiltrated by terrorists.
A new report released on Wednesday rates the sector across seven Asia-Pacific nations - including Australia - as being at 'medium' risk of terrorism financing.
The first regional risk assessment of non-profit organisations found Indonesia posed the highest risk, with some of its NPOs appearing to have been a significant vehicle for financial support of terrorists and terrorist networks.
NPOs are one of the main channels being used to raise and transfer funds to support terrorist activity and violent extremism in the region and other high-risk countries.
The report, compiled by senior officers and intelligence analysts from Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Thailand, noted eight areas of improvement.
It has recommended codes of conduct in the sector to promote closer scrutiny of NPO personnel, including senior staff and directors.
It also suggests improving data collection and sharing to better identify, monitor and disrupt high-risk NPOs.
Justice Minister Michael Keenan and his Indonesian and Malaysian counterparts labelled the work "groundbreaking".
