Supporting increasing array of enduring ties

Supporting increasing array of enduring ties

Encouraging and supporting an ever increasing array of enduring links between Australia and Indonesia is a key function of the Australia-Indonesia Institute.

Established by the Australian government in April 1989 to promote mutual understanding through interpersonal and institutional links with Indonesia, the institute funds an increasingly diverse range of projects including in civil society, commerce, technology, education, sport, media and the arts.

The institute's regular activities include scholarships and exchange programs for Australian teachers, students and journalists to travel to Indonesia to learn the language and experience Indonesian culture, as well as senior editors' meetings to develop dialogue between Indonesian and Australian editors on the political and economic issues of both countries.

Support is also provided for Australian studies in Indonesia, and a range of performing and visual arts projects.

Since August 1998, the institute has developed a program of assistance to strengthen Indonesia's emerging civil society, with projects targeting women's groups, legal aid and law reform, the environment, electoral reform and cooperatives, and the implementation of a human rights treaty.

Training for Indonesian individuals and groups provides specialist advice and supports institution building.

At its most recent meeting in November last year, the institute's Board considered a total of 21 proposals, amounting to almost A$1.2 million in requested funding.

Of these proposals, approval was given for a range of innovative projects, each with the potential to strengthen ties between Indonesia and Australia.

Among them a two-day conference at Macquarie University in Sydney on developing and implementing autonomy in the Indonesian and Australian education systems, and funding for the National Aboriginal and Islander Dance College to invite two Indonesian dancers to perform with the college in Sydney.

Through support for these and other initiatives across the broad spectrum of culture and society, the institute continues to help build people-to-people contacts and to create opportunities for better understanding between Australians and Indonesians.