Australia hosted the inaugural Asia-Pacific Education Ministers’ Meeting in Brisbane on 3-4 April 2006. Ministers and senior officials from Turkey through to the Pacific Islands met under the following theme:
What actions on education and training can be agreed that will strengthen good relations in the region; and underpin its social and economic development, through the international mobility of students and research collaboration?
Ministers agreed to collaborate on a number of broad initiatives to encourage and facilitate regional student and academic mobility and exchange, and to address barriers to these activities. Ministers agreed to cooperate on four key themes, which they outlined in the Brisbane Communiqué 
(47.1 KB) issued at the meeting:
- Quality assurance frameworks for the region linked to international standards, including courses delivered online;
- Recognition of educational and professional qualifications;
- Common competency based standards for teachers, particularly in science and mathematics; and
- The development of common recognition of technical skills across the region in order to better meet the overall skills needs of the economic base of the region.
The overarching objective of Brisbane Communiqué work is to better position the education systems and approaches of the broader Asia-Pacific with international developments, thus ensuring transparency and mutual trust between countries’ education systems.
The following countries attended the meeting:
| Australia |
Bangladesh |
Bhutan |
| Brunei Darussalam |
Cambodia |
People’s Republic of China |
| Iraq |
Kiribati |
Maldives |
| Marshall Islands |
Federated States of Micronesia |
Nauru |
| Nepal |
New Caledonia |
Sultanate of Oman |
| Pakistan |
Papua New Guinea |
Philippines |
| Republic of Korea |
Saudi Arabia |
Sri Lanka |
| Thailand |
Tonga |
Turkey |
| Vanuatu |
Vietnam |
|
The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation also attended the meeting as an observer.