Jakarta, Dec 7 (ANTARA) - The Australian government has doubled its counter-terrorism assistance to Indonesia from 10 million to 20 million Australian dollars over more than the next five years, a press released said.

Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, said in a press release received by ANTARA here on Tuesday night that Australia was always to support the establishment of the $A36.8 million Jakarta Center for Law Enforcement Cooperation (JCLEC), which aims to enhance bilateral and regional counter-terrorism cooperation.

"We will be working to develop our expanded program of assistance in close cooperation with the Indonesian government. It will build a range of key counter-terrorism programs in three key areas - enhancing the capacity of the Indonesian National Police (Polri), ravel security and combating terrorist financing - and address new priorities identified by the Indonesian government," he said.

The recently established Transnational Crime Center (TNCC) in Jakarta, for which Australia has provided $A4.7 million, and will continue to provide a focal point within Polri for prevention, identification and dismantling all forms of transnational crime, including terrorism.

In the area of travel security, the Australian government will provide assistance to Indonesia to strengthen its airports, immigration and customs control capabilities.

"This will involve Australian departments working with their Indonesian counterparts to improve security, surveillance and anlysis," he added.

According to him, Australia will continue to work with Indonesia to enhance its capacity to disrupt terrorist financing including through the development of international cooperation arrangements, awareness, raising and strengthening the legal framework.

Downer said Australia warmly welcomes and strongly supports the new Indonesian government's commitment to cooperating to fight the scourge of terrorism and will continue to assist in any way possible.