Foreign Minister Penny Wong will use a United Nations summit to push for a new declaration for the protection of humanitarian personnel, galvanised by the killing of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom in Gaza earlier this year.

While in New York for the UN General Assembly, the foreign minister is set to meet with ministerial counterparts and international humanitarian organisations to advocate for greater protections. 

All countries will eventually be invited to sign up to a pledge that would aim to reverse a trend that has seen more than 450 humanitarian aid workers killed since the beginning of last year, according to the Australian Council for International Development.

“2024 is on track to be the deadliest year on record for aid workers. Australia is deeply concerned by this trend,” Senator Wong said in a statement on Monday. 

“It signifies that the rules and norms that protect humanitarian personnel are at risk, with consequences for current and future conflicts.”

The growing death toll has put the ability of aid agencies to continue providing services to people in conflict zones under threat, according to humanitarian groups, which say their workers face danger on a daily basis.

Lalzawmi “Zomi” Frankcom was working with the World Central Kitchen charity to deliver food and other supplies to northern Gaza when her convoy was hit by an Israeli drone strike in April.

The Australian was one of seven aid workers killed in the attack, which the Israeli military described as a “mistake that followed a misidentification”.

Senator Wong said the Australian government wanted to ensure the “tragic deaths” of the aid workers were not in vain.

“Gaza is the deadliest place on earth to be an aid worker,” she said.

“Now is the moment for the international community to rededicate itself to the protection of aid workers in conflict zones.”

The government aims to work with ministers, humanitarian organisations and UN secretary-general António Guterres to draft a declaration that reaffirms existing international law while also setting out practical steps to safeguard workers.

Senator Wong will meet with humanitarian leaders, including chef José Andrés from World Central Kitchen, on Monday, local time.

Aid groups welcome push

Australian humanitarian organisations have welcomed the plan for a declaration of protection, but say more needs to be done to ensure international humanitarian law is adhered to in the meantime. 

UNICEF’s head of government liaison, Paul Kelly, said humanitarian personnel did essential work in conflict zones every day — including providing “life-saving” aid such as food, water and sanitation services — despite a raft of dangers.

“The kind of challenges they face day to day are things like being shot at or being targeted by militants, things like being harassed or intimidated,” he said.

Aid workers are protected alongside civilians and medics under the Geneva Conventions, which set out the rules of armed conflict.

The issue, Mr Kelly said, was that these laws were often ignored.

“What I hear from my colleagues on the ground is that it’s not a lack of awareness of obligations of parties in conflict under humanitarian law, but more often than not, it’s political will,” he said.

“These are decisions that people are making to disregard their obligations.”

Yvette Zegenhagen, the executive director of external engagement of the Australian Red Cross, said 28 of the organisation’s own volunteers and staff had been killed while working in war zones this year.

“Humanitarian workers are putting themselves in a very difficult and dangerous context, however, there are things in place … that are there to keep them safe,” she said.

For the Red Cross and Red Crescent, these include wearing the group’s symbol, which is protected under international law.

“These things should be protecting them and yet we are seeing more and more that it’s not enough to keep them safe,” she said.

The Australian Council for International Development (ACFID), which represents local humanitarian agencies, also said it hoped the declaration would have a particular focus on consequences for breaching existing international law.

“We call on the Australian government to also lead the way in ensuring that existing accountability measures are utilised to ensure consequences where these laws are violated,” ACFID chief executive Mark Purcell said.

“The Australian government and other governments can utilise these mechanisms right now to place pressure on states which are violating international humanitarian law.”

‘People like Zomi are rare’

Ms Frankcom’s family detailed her passion for helping people who needed it, despite the danger it put her in, as they welcomed the government’s initiative.

They said in a statement that Ms Frankcom was aware of the risks but trusted that international rules of law would be respected and she would be protected from harm.

“Her aid work made her braver than most, and her work took her to some dangerous situations, but she was driven by a passion and clear purpose to feed and help people who needed it,” they said on Monday. 

In the days after the attack on the World Central Kitchen convoy, the Australian government ordered a review of Israel’s response to the strikes.

An “unclassified” version of the report by special adviser Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin was released last month. It found there was a “significant breakdown in situational awareness” and the deaths were a result of serious failures to follow Israel Defense Forces (IDF) procedures.

But it also determined that the strike was “not knowingly or deliberately directed” against the World Central Kitchen workers. 

A spokesperson for the Israeli military told ABC 7.30 in April that a criminal investigation into the incident could take place.

“Not only was our Zomi a humanitarian, but she was also a human being — deserving of the right to life and liberty and the right to work for those people she served in the most desperate moments of their lives,” Ms Frankcom’s family said.

“People like Zomi are rare and their bravery and selflessness should be not only celebrated but protected, they can’t be brave at any cost.”