• Emeritus Professor of Southeast Asian Studies, Indo-Pacific Research Centre, Murdoch University
A TV ad featuring an Australian woman travelling to Bali and falling for a Balinese man captures Australia’s love affair with Indonesia. EPA/Made Nagi

Look who’s talking: Indonesian in Australia

Recently, Indonesian language has begun to make an appearance in Australian popular media. There is evidence too that, after years of decline, student interest in Indonesian language and studying in Indonesia…
The most Asia-literate teachers were those who had had experienced some form of extended cultural exchange in an Asian country, the research found. AAP Image/Dan Peled

Create more Asia study opportunities for teachers: report

Asia knowledge should be included in all initial teacher education, according to a new report released today that also called for more opportunities for teachers and principals to experience Asia through…
Australians who study in Asia will be best placed to tackle the challenges of the Asian Century. http://www.flickr.com/photos/monashuni

An Asian Century education: why students need equal access to overseas study

The Asian Century has arrived and Australians with Asian study experience will be best placed to take advantage of it. But if we are to educate and prepare our graduates for the Asian Century and all the…
Over 1000 professors have signed a letter calling on the Government to reverse plans to cut university funding to pay for school reforms. AAP

Over 1000 professors call on Gillard to reverse planned uni cuts

Over a thousand Australian professors have signed an open letter asking the federal government to abandon plans for $2.3 billion worth of cuts to the university sector. The cuts, announced this month as…
Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu is hoping to enhance the state’s relationship with Asia. AAP

Asian Century solutions will require funding boost

Plans to boost Australia’s integration with Asia should include funding to get Australian students into Asian countries, say Asian studies experts. The comments come as Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu is…
Ken Henry’s white paper on Australia in the Asian Century will be released this Sunday. AAP

Asian language support lagging in Asian Century discussion

Asian language studies should be front and centre in the white paper on Australia in the Asian Century, say experts, with worrying declines in Asian language studies putting Australia at a disadvantage…
Julia Gillard and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono both acknowledge the importance of a strong relationship between Australia and Indonesia. AAP

Indonesian knowledge is dying – just when we need it most

A detailed report launched in Parliament House within hours of the ALP leadership ballot last Monday revealed that, whoever is Prime Minister, the Australian government needs to act decisively and urgently…

$98 million needed to lift study of Indonesian over next decade

The study of Indonesian has sunk to “crisis levels” in Australian universities, according to a government-funded review that calls for $98 million to save the language before it vanishes from campuses…

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