In Nauru, under an informal agreement, defense is the responsibility of Australia; under the terms of a security deal signed in December 2024, Nauru pledged to seek Australia’s agreement before it signed any bilateral accords on maritime security, defense, and policing, and would receive economic assistance from Australia, including to its police force

Nauru has a "shiprider" agreement with the US, which allows local maritime law enforcement officers to embark on US Coast Guard (USCG) and US Navy (USN) vessels, including to board and search vessels suspected of violating laws or regulations within Nauru's designated exclusive economic zone (EEZ) or on the high seas; "shiprider" agreements also enable USCG personnel and USN vessels with embarked USCG law enforcement personnel to work with host nations to protect critical regional resources (2024)