Australia’s military exports are growing, but parliament and the public still lack clear information about what is being exported, where it goes and how it is used.

Last month member countries of the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty met in Geneva. The meeting faced challenges. While the Arms Trade Treaty was established to reduce the flow of arms where grave violations of international law are occurring, it has failed to make meaningful progress towards this vital goal in its first ten years. In fact the current context is dire – 1 in 5 children on this planet are growing up in a war zone, the highest ever. And a recent report of 23 armed conflicts show breaches of international law are being perpetrated at a massive scale, with more than 100,000 civilians killed in the last 18 months, and widespread use of torture and rape by armed actors, with near impunity.

There are signs that some countries are taking their obligations seriously – curtailing or stopping weapons transfers due to the wars in Sudan, Iran and Gaza. However there are still weapons pouring into these regions. For example,........

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