Acicis 30th Anniversary

Speech
10 September, 2025
Hosted by the Australian Consortium for In-Country Indonesian Studies
Canberra

I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people as the Traditional Custodians of the land we are meeting on and recognise any other people or families with connection to the lands of the ACT and region.

Assalamualaikum, Salam Sejahtera, Om Swastiastu, Namo Buddhaya, Salam Kebajikan, Selamat malam semuanya.

Terima kasih kepada Bapak Liam dan Keluarga Acicis atas sambutannya.

Congratulations to ACICIS for 30 extraordinary years.

I express my appreciation to all of the Keluarga Acicis including former and current staff and members of the National Reference Group.

I also acknowledge the extraordinary alumni who have played a pivotal role in keeping the semangat spirit alive.

The leadership of Pak Liam, and Pak David before him, have had an immeasurable impact on the sustainability of Acicis and the enduring nature of the connections between Australian institutions and students with Indonesia.

I also acknowledge:

-         Representatives from the Indonesian Embassy: Ibu Yuli Rahmawati, Education and Culture Attache

-         Fiona Hoggart, Head of the ASEAN-Australia Centre and former Australian Consul-General in Surabaya, and  

-         Bill Farmer, former Ambassador of Australia to Indonesia (2005 – 2010).  

Acicis was formed in 1994 with just one hundred thousand dollars from the Keating Government.

It was a small contribution with a huge impact.  

And although much has changed in the last 30 years, one thing has stayed the same: our need to engage with our closest of partners, Indonesia.

Today, the Australia-Indonesia relationship has never been stronger.

We are neighbours by geography, but partners by choice.

It is a relationship built on mutual trust and understanding.

Fundamentally, it is a relationship built on our ability to know each other and to speak each other’s languages.

I really don’t need to tell the people in this room about the importance of engaging with Indonesia or learning Bahasa Indonesia.

No one understands the importance of our relationship better than all of you in the room today.

Acicis has enabled close to 5000 Australians to study, undertake work placements, live and deeply engage in Indonesia.

It has given Australian students the opportunity to immerse themselves and learn Bahasa Indonesia alongside our Indonesian neighbours.

These alumni have made significant contributions to the enduring partnership between our two countries.  

It’s no exaggeration to say that Acicis’ work has underpinned the trust and understanding between Australia and Indonesia, through fostering people to people links and institutional connections.

Alumni of Acicis can be found everywhere: at our universities, NGOS, federal and state government departments, and the media, many of whom I believe are here this evening.

People like Australia’s former High Commissioner to Brunei, Luke Arnold, former High Commissioner to Mauritius and Seychelles, and Ambassador to Madagascar and Comoros, Dr Kate O’Shaugnessy, and Australia’s Consul-General in Makassar, Todd Dias.

Or people like Natali Pearson, Eve Warburton and Elly Kent, who are all leading academics in their fields.

People like Ele Williams who was worked as Acicis Resident Director for numerous years in Yogyakarta and was a key member of the NCP External Advisory Group.

I even have two Acicis alumni working in my office.

Thank you for the contributions you are all making to the Australia-Indonesia relationship.

There have of course been rocky periods.

But Acicis has survived changes in government in both countries, the ebbs and flows of bilateral relations, and the shutdown of international study caused by the Covid pandemic.  

Despite these challenges, Acicis has not just survived, but grown.

It has expanded to include immersion programs in law, business, journalism, development studies and public health.

And Acicis will continue to be instrumental for the ongoing success of the bilateral relationship.

In part, this is due to the funding through the New Colombo Plan.

Acicis was a model for our New Colombo Plan reforms.

The reforms will help support universities keep offering the languages and Asian studies courses needed to build students’ Asia capabilities.

These NCP reforms mean that more people will travel to Indonesia and for longer periods.

I look forward to watching the role Acicis will play in deepening the Australia-Indonesia relationship over the next 30 years.

And I look forward to staying engaged with Keluarga Acicis and seeing how it continues to make a vital contribution to our most important bilateral relationship and the shared future of our two nations.

Before I leave you, I’ll submit my entry to the 2025 Bahasa Sesh Challenge.

My word is “mantap”.

It’s used as a compliment to express praise similar to “great” or “awesome”.

For example, nasi goreng ini mantap!

Sekali lagi terima kasih kepada Keluarga Acicis.

Saya sampaikan semangat dan selamat bekerja!