Jusuf Kalla (AFP/Kazuhiro Nogi)

Australia and Indonesia will co-host a meeting of regional law enforcement and national security agencies to discuss ways of blocking funding for extremists, it was announced Wednesday.

Australia's visiting Justice Minister Michael Keenan announced the meeting after talks with Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla, at which violent radicalism was high on the agenda.

The two countries will host the meeting in Sydney in November, the first gathering of its kind in the region.

Keenan said joint efforts to counter extremism began in the aftermath of the 2002 Bali bombings -- which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians -- and were needed more than ever today.

"The Indonesian government, like the Australian government, is concerned about the reach of this barbarous terrorist organization in the Middle East and the methods they use to radicalize people," he said, referring to the Islamic State (IS) group.

"It's good for us to be able to share that experience, but also to share strategies for combating it as well."

Hundreds of Indonesians are thought to have joined IS in the Middle East. There are fears that they could revive sophisticated militant networks on their return and launch attacks.

Just last week police in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country, said they foiled a homegrown plot to blow up churches and police stations in central Java, with three IS-linked militants arrested.

Australia too is increasingly concerned about the number of its citizens fighting with jihadist groups, and last month arrested and charged a nurse for knowingly providing support to IS.

The summit will seek regional commitments to share financial and intelligence data to the fullest extent to help combat the capabilities of extremist groups.

Keenan's visit was the first by an Australian minister since Canberra temporarily recalled its ambassador in April over the execution of two Australian drug traffickers.

Australian officials insist high-level cooperation on extremism and other issues of national security never wavered despite cooling relations.

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