He said the high level of Islamic State "inspired and directed" terrorist activity in Marawi in the Philippines presented a threat to the region – especially Indonesia – as "newly trained" IS terrorists were exported across the Sulawesi sea. "We are determined to be proactive, to get ahead of this, to co-operate with regional partners in order to do what we need to do to thwart the ambitions of terrorists to keep our people safe," Senator Brandis said. A foreign terrorist fighters forum will be set up to share information between countries in the region, including utilising and/or establishing databases on the militants and their cross-border movements. In August the Australian Federal Police and Indonesian National Police will co-host a law-enforcement dialogue on Islamic State. The summit comes amid revelations that dozens of Islamic militants have attempted to disguise themselves as police and soldiers to sneak past military checkpoints and reinforce gunmen in Marawi.

The fighting has so far claimed more than 630 lives and the city of Marawi, which had a population of 300,000, has been largely destroyed. A recent report by the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, which warned of further violent attacks in the region, called for an up-to-date, integrated watch-list of extremists across the region. "While governments around the region and particularly the front-line states of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines recognise the need for greater regional co-operation, there remain formidable obstacles to working together," the report said. "These include the deep-seated political distrust between the Philippines and Malaysia that impedes information sharing; concern from Indonesia and Malaysia police about mixed loyalties of local counterparts in Mindanao, especially given clan and family links; and institutional disjunctures that give the lead in counter-terrorism to the police in Indonesia and Malaysia but to the military in the Philippines." In his opening statement at Saturday's meeting, Senator Brandis conveyed his condolences to the "many innocent civilians and armed forces personnel" who lost their lives in the conflict in Marawi.

"The conflict in Marawi reminds us in the most immediate possible way of the urgency and the proximity of the threat that is faced by all of us," Senator Brandis said. He said the theme of all the initiatives agreed upon was to expand the areas of co-operation and make them more inclusive of more countries in the region. "We have a high level of co-operation with Indonesia, we have a significant level of co-operation with the other countries as well and of course we co-operate with New Zealand as a 'five eyes' partner, but the intention is to elevate and make more comprehensive the level of co-operation." The countries would also do a comparative study of their terrorism laws to combat threats in the region. Indonesians who join terrorist groups overseas will face a maximum 15 years' jail under new anti-terrorism laws expected to be passed by September.

Terrorism analysts have long called for a tightening of anti-terrorism legislation in Indonesia, which to date has not banned membership of IS or similar organisations or participation in terrorist training camps overseas. Senator Brandis said in the past three years there had been four IS-inspired attacks on Australian soil that had cost lives. "We have also thwarted 12 terrorism attacks on Australian soil during that time, almost all of them (IS) inspired." He said some of them had been planned mass casualty attacks. "So I think Australians understand that we are threatened just as our regional partners are threatened and I think we all understand that this threat is best thwarted if we work collaboratively together." Follow Jewel Topsfield on Facebook

