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Siapa AII ?

AII stands for Australia Indonesia Institute, an organisation established under an Order-in-Council in 1989 to promote greater understanding between the peoples of Indonesia and Australia. The AII aims to;

· Increase people-to-people contacts and institutional links
· Broaden and update perceptions of Australia in Indonesia, and
· Increase understanding and improve access for Australians to Indonesia.

The AII comprises a Board of up to thirteen members, and the Secretariat, which is located within the South East Asia Division of the Dept of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The AII office in Canberra is run by two aware, intelligent and caring women - the Acting Director Marisa Gomes, and Angela Vary, Project Officer, who assist the Board of the Institute in making decisions designed to support the following Mission Statement:

"To develop further relations between Australia and Indonesia by the promotion in Australia of a greater understanding of Indonesia and by the promotion in Indonesia of a greater understanding of Australia, as well as the enlargement over the longer term of the area of contact and exchange between Australia and Indonesia and their respective peoples."

AII was established 10 years ago in a move by the Australian Government to finally recognise and prioritise Australia's relationship with our nearest neighbour, Indonesia. At that time the Hawke government gave recognition to the special relationship that does exist physically and psychically between Australia and Indonesia. A relationship of which many of us had been aware for many years.

During the last ten years, AII has implemented many innovative and worthwhile projects designed to create positive connection between Australia and Indonesia. Major annual projects which have been established to provide meaningful exchange include; The Australia Indonesia Youth Exchange, Teacher Scholarships, Student Subsidies, Australia Indonesia Rural Areas Education Scheme, Australia Lecture Series, Aboriginal amd Torres Strait Islander Program, Journalist Scholarships, Introduction to Conservation Practice, Gallery Internships, and Art Residencies and among others.

How do they do it - with a staff of only two in the Secretariat?! Besides operating regular annual programs, AII also makes grant funds available to Australian and Indonesian community, educational and cultural groups. Total Funds for the current financial year are Au$900,000. Organisations or individuals wishing to apply for funding are encouraged to phone Angela or Lorraine at AII to share ideas and discuss availability of funds.

Civil Societies Program

In 1988 the Institute undertook a new initiative called the Civil Societies Program. The Program aimed to respond to the current crisis and changing situation in Indonesia. After consultation with government and NGO groups, the AII decided to focus on helping Indonesia to strengthen its emerging civil society. The key areas identified were;

- human rights treaty implementation
- assistance for women's groups
- legal aid and law reform
- the environment
- electoral reform
- co-operatives

Projects have included - Training course in Human Rights, Trauma Counselling Training, Anti-Violence Educational Strategy, Women's NGO Newsletter, Class Actions under Indonesia's New Environmental Laws, Workshop on Inter-group Relations, Participation in the Anti-Corruption Conference and Civil Society Conference, Media Skills Training etc.

The Civil Society Program is a credit to the dedication of the AII Board and the Acting Director Marisa Gomes, who saw the opportunity to undertake a new program that sought to directly address some very important human rights and civil issues. By working closely with NGOs the program has created a range of new, innovative, cutting edge programs in Indonesia.

New Priorities

While in the past, many of the AII programs have prioritised the improvement in education about Australia in Indonesia such as a text book about Australia and Australian cultural programs in Indonesia, the AII has recognised the urgent need to prioritise the improvement of understanding and awareness about Indonesia in Australia.

Over the years, many individuals, schools and local cultural organisations such as gamelan and dance groups, Indonesian community groups, Galleries and artists have been doing their best to educate Australia about Indonesia by presenting Indonesian cultural events in Australia, generally with little or no government assistance.

The AII is aware that political and economic issues have been affecting the attitudes of average Australians towards Indonesia. Many Australians are ill-informed and ignorant about the diversity, beauty and complexity of Indonesian cultures and hold parochial, unbalanced and at times racist views. Racism can take many forms including ignoring or marginalising groups on the basis of ethnicity - Indonesian groups in Australia have certainly been ignored and underfunded in general.

AII attends Australia Indonesia Arts Alliance Meeting

AII showed its commitment to support the grassroots development of Indonesian culture in Australia by sending Marisa Gomes to fly up to Sydney from Canberra to attend an AIAA Meeting at Glebe Town Hall earlier this year. Marisa stated that AII has been very impressed by the creation of the AIAA web site and the work AIAA has been doing in initiating a national network of Indonesian cultural organisations in Australia.

AIAA members had the opportunity to ask Marisa - "Why is it that Indonesian visual and performing artists are regularly invited to visit Europe, America and Japan, but are rarely seen in Australia? And "What can we do to redress this imbalance?"

The meeting discussed ideas such as the AIAA initiative designed to encourage schools, community groups, universities and cultural organisations to undertake Indonesian Artist-in-Residence Programs, inviting an Indonesian artist to teach and work within their organisation in order to provide students and community members with direct experience, contact and education about Indonesian culture.

It is possible that AII grants funds may be available for Indonesian Artist-in-Residence Programs. As the AII has limited discretionary funds available Marisa suggested that smaller community-based projects and projects jointly funded by other bodies would be most likely to receive funding.

Contact:Marisa Gomes email: marisa.gomes@dfat.gov.au
Angela Vary email: angela.vary@dfat.gov.au
Web site: http://www.dfat.gov.au/aii/index.html