"This shows our shared commitment to fight this scourge of humankind," said Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda after signing the document with his Australian counterpart Alexander Downer.

Downer said the declaration "reflects our shared determination to work together as a region to eliminate international terrorism and reinforces the unprecedented levels of cooperation Australia has developed with Asean countries in fighting this threat."

He said the Bali nightclub bombings of October 2002, in which 88 of the 202 dead were Australians, showed that individual nations could not combat terrorism on their own.

Australia and Indonesia mounted a unique joint investigation into the Bali blasts, which were staged by the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah. The Australians provided forensic and other technical support, such as retrieving deleted files from the laptop of mastermind Imam Samudra and tracing mobile phones calls.

Courts in Bali have convicted 33 people for the bombings, including three who were sentenced to death.

Australia and Indonesia co-hosted a regional counter-terrorism meeting in Bali in February. Australia has provided most of the funds for an anti-terror training school which will be opened Saturday in the eastern Indonesian city of Semarang.