Welcome

AIYA President Arjuna Dibley:

Dear friends and followers of AIYA,

AIYA has grown remarkably over the past 18 months; from a group of four friends in a cafe in Canberra to an organisation with an executive across two countries, chapters in every capital city of Australia except Hobart and a growing and active Chapter in Jakarta, and over1500 Facebook followers.

Everyone, at every level of AIYA, have been really busy with exciting events and initiatives. Below, you will see some of great events our Chapters have been involved with, including joint initiatives with the Boston Consulting Group, as well as language exchanges and school visits encouraging secondary children to take up the study of Indonesian.

At the AIYA National level, several new initiatives are on foot, including:

  • our fabulous new website – for which a special thanks must go to Tim Graham, and all those who assisted with the site, including Dave Shen, Hugh Passmore, Fe Donaghue, Matthew Satchwell and others;
  • formation of new and exciting partnerships (most of which we aren’t allowed to announce yet!), including with the Southeast Asia Centre at the University of Sydney;
  • increased media engagement – including a great interview with Radio Australia;
  • developing new Indonesia related job opportunities – including an ongoing recruitment drive with the University of Melbourne’s Asia Law Centre for a paid research position on Indonesia law;
  • lobbying – including writing a response to the Commonwealth Government’s Australia in the Asian Century White Paper; and
  • management issues – we have been working, as always, on AIYA’s finances, to firm up AIYAs structure, and get everyone together for a strategic discussion in the early part of 2013.

Thank you for everyone who has contributed so much to growing this organisation. Your efforts are making a huge difference in achieving AIYA’s goals – just this week I had a student contact me, who had never previously thought about studying Indonesian, but is considering doing do so after looking at our website and the great initiatives on it.

As always, do not hesitate to get in touch with me at [email protected] if you have any questions or concerns.

Salam hangat
Arjuna

From AIYA National

AIYA’s new website

AIYA National’s director of communications Tim Graham writes:

After almost a year in the making, AIYA’s brand new website launched in early November. If you haven’t had a chance to take a look yet, you’ll find it at aiya.org.au. We’ve put together information on working and studying in Indonesia, along with more information about us, and our state chapters. Along with our popular Facebook page and Twitter account, we hope it will become a useful resource for young people interested in building a career in or on Indonesia!

There’s a lot to the site already, with more to come, but if you’re still new to us, check out the About AIYA section for more on our aims, what we do, and how you can get involved. There are also useful sections on working and studying in Indonesia, along with a comprehensive list of institutions and courses that offer Indonesian studies.

Of particular interest is our Career Champions section, which we’re planning to update regularly. It’s designed to showcase Australians and Indonesians who have successfully built a career in each others’ countries. We’ve already launched with profiles of people in industries from hospitality to foreign aid – and there are more to come. If you know anyone who might make for a good profile, don’t hesitate to tip us off!

We’d like to offer a huge thanks to the Australia-Indonesia Business Council for their hosting and technical support, along with the Australian National University and the Australia-Indonesia Institute for their financial assistance in getting the site up and running.

Asian Century White Paper response

A special team of AIYA members, Arjuna Dibley, Chris Urbanski and Tim Graham, are busy writing a response to the Commonwealth Government’s Australia in Asia Century White Paper. The response is still a work in progress but will focus on a few key concerns that AIYA have been lobbying about for some time, including the omission ofthe major bureaucratic challenges in relation to the Australia-Indonesia Work and Holiday visa scheme.

Our response will also propose a few creative policy recommendations on how to foster greater supply and demand for an Asia capable workforce. If you have any ideas, or would like to get involved, email Tim at [email protected].

Chapter Updates

New South Wales

From AIYA NSW Co-Coordinator Katrina Steedman:

October was an extremely busy and successful month for AIYA NSW. On 10th October, AIYA NSW in partnership with the Jakarta-based Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and PPIA USYD and UNSW, hosted two successful BCG recruitment information sessions at the USYD and UNSW campuses. These events were well attended by both Indonesian and Australian students drawn by their interest to learn more about working for BCG at their Jakarta Office. AIYA NSW wishes all the USYD and UNSW applicants the very best of luck!

A big congratulations to AIYA NSW co-coordinators Nicholas Mark and Katrina Steedman for their successful performance in the PPIA’s Stereonesia event in October. Competing against nine other bands, they placed second – you can see a short video of their performance on YouTube.

AIYA NSW and AIYA National also made a significant contribution in providing feedback for the support of re-instating the Indonesian Language Consultant Position. The NSW Department of Education and Communities received a large amount of feedback in support of the Indonesian Language Consultant position and the detrimental impact that would incur if the position was not included in the structure of the Schools portfolio. Due to the tremendous support, the Indonesian language consultant position was re-instated. This will provide support to teachers and schools that teach Indonesian. This is important for the future generations of Australians to develop the skills and knowledge for a positive and prosperous relationship with our closest neighbour, Indonesia.

Besides vocational and advocacy for Indonesian language literacy, AIYA NSW has also been busy fostering in engaging with Indonesia through the creative arts. AIYA NSW Chapter coordinator Nicholas Mark’s children’s picture book, Petualangan Anak Indonesia or The Indoventurers has received both praise and enthusiasm from readers in Indonesia and Australia. Through his book, Nicholas is spreading the importance of Asian language literacy to both Indonesian communities and schools teaching Indonesian in NSW and ACT.

Nicholas has received Australian national media coverage thanks to AIYA National and the Australian Embassy, as well as starring as a feature story on Redaksi Siang on Indonesia’s Trans7 television station in October.

As a joint initiative between PPIA USYD and AIYA NSW in semester two, PPIA and AIYA NSW held a Indonesian language conversation hour or jam ngobrol for Indonesian Studies students. Every Thursday in semester two from 1-2pm, a small group of PPIA members and Indonesian Studies students gathered to discuss topics centred on Indonesia using Indonesian. The Indonesian Studies students and PPIA members enjoyed the regular jam ngobrol, and there are plans to make it more accessible and bigger in the 2013 academic year!

To keep up to date with AIYA NSW news and events, head to our Facebook page or email us at [email protected].

Victoria

From AIYA Victoria’s‘s Nik Svede:

Things at AIYA Victoria have been moving full steam ahead since our last update in August. Our BCG networking events at Monash and Melbourne, which we helped to organise alongside the PPIA, were a great success, with excellent numbers at both campuses. We’re really looking forward to deepening our partnership with the PPIA on future events in the next year.

AIYA’s Victoria chapter, pictured above at our most recent meeting at the Garage Cafe in Carlton, were delighted to meet with some of the Indonesian particpants of the Australia-Indonesia Youth Exchange Program. They’ve been living and working in Melbourne for the last three weeks, and are getting ready for a new placement in country Victoria this week.

October also saw Monash’s Indonesian department celebrate 50 years of Indonesian studies with sepak takraw and sate at the Clayton campus, attended by several AIYA Victoria members.

Meanwhile, we’ve started holding regular chapter meetings with a super-keren group of around 10-12 regular attendees from Melbourne, Monash, Deakin and La Trobe. In mid-December, AIYA Victoria held a ‘soft launch’ event at the Garage Cafe in Carlton to celebrate the end of the year, introduce ourselves to the community, and prepare for our major launch event in 2013. Just this week, we met to formalise our chapter’s structure, designating official positions and our strategy for the next six months. We’re just putting the finishing touches on the official announcement, so keep an eye out!

We’ve been really pleased with our progress over the last few months, with much more in store for the new year – stay tuned! If you’re a student or young professional in Victoria who’s interested in taking part, check out our blossoming Facebook presence, join our mailing list, or send a message through to [email protected] to find out about our next meeting.

Western Australia

AIYA WA‘s director of communications, Alex Gibson, writes:

It’s been a couple of busy months at AIYA WA with our strategic plan currently going through its final draft. Along with this a strategy is being developed for each committee member, with KPIs being developed to ensure optimal performance from our committee members. The committee is also working hard on a parliamentary engagement strategy to leverage the spotlight on Indonesia in light of the release of the Asia Century White Paper.

On the events front we have held another AIYA WA dinner which was well received by all. A few weeks ago we also hosted a Karaoke evening where some of our more flamboyant members belted out the tunes and made some new friends in the process.

We’ve had to delay our official launch event until March 2013 but rest assured it will be an event to remember. We’ve already secured sponsorship from AIYA National as well as from a number of other organisations and businesses for our launch. Excitingly, we’ve secured sponsorship from the AIBC for a free Garuda flight to Bali for one lucky winner on the night.

Our final event for the year is going to be a family friendly beach day at Cottesloe Beach on Sunday 2 December. We look forward to meeting our new members and identifying new opportunities to expand and enhance the role of AIYA in Western Australia.

For more on what we’re up to, join our Facebook group or send us an email at[email protected].

Northern Territory

AIYA NT president, Luke Gosling, writes:

We kicked off in the Top End with a public event at the NT Parliament Library, where high profile Indonesians and Territorians shared their views on how we can continue to develop our already close relationship. It has been a great year for the national profile of our proximity and close relationship. The Australian Prime Minister and Indonesian President also visited the NT, and reiterated Darwin’s importancefor the development of an ever-closer relationship between Australia and Indonesia, and particularly eastern Indonesia.

AIYA NT was pleased to support the Bali Artists’ Camp, which saw a group of Indonesian artists visit the Northern Territory to capture its landscape and people. I Dewa Gede Rata Yoga, above, presents Timber Creek People. Photo thanks to 24 Hour Art.

AIYA NT also supported the Bali Artists Camp, which involved a group of Balinese artists exploring and capturing the unique landscape and people of The Top End. Patron of the Artist Camp and former Australia Indonesia Institute board member Colin McDonald QC captured the experience well in saying that “…we all see the world differently, but we’re all on a common journey. It’s sometimes said that Australia and Indonesia are strange neighbours and in some ways we are, but this artists’ camp shows that in so many ways we’re not – the journey is the same.”

Recently, AIYA NT was invited to the announcement of the new Chair of PPIA NT, Rangga Darindra, at a reception at Charles Darwin University. Rangga is a very impressive student of commerce at Charles Darwin University and it was a great evening. The relationships with PPIA and CDU that we’re forming in the Top End are establishing a strong basis and lasting purpose for us, and we look forward to officially launching, with special guests, early in 2013.

I’d also like to offer thanks for all the support we’ve had from AIYA National and the other states. Please don’t be strangers – after all, we are here to connect, inform and inspire! You can get in touch through our new Facebook page, or on [email protected].

Further to our newsletter, the AIYA WA Chapter would like to provide further clarification on their newsletter update and acknowledge AIBC’s kind donation of a Garuda flight to Bali for our launch event in March. AIYA WA greatly appreciates AIBC’s ongoing support and looks forward to working with them in the future. Further details about the State’s official launch event will be provided via the State’s page on the AIYA website and via the State’s AIYA facebook page shortly.
– AIYA WA Committee