Stay with us on the journey

As Australia adjusts to life in a new ‘COVID-normal’ in 2021, the realisation that the ways people around the world communicate, interact and collaborate has irrevocably changed, provides a timely impetus to pause and reflect what this means for languages.

How do Chinese-speaking international students in Melbourne engage with the arts and cultural sector? Read this report for survey data and insights.

Asialink and Herbert Smith Freehills were proud to deliver a major Virtual Summit for the Asialink Leaders Program from 26 to 28 October, 2020. The Virtual Summit provided our 46 Asialink Leaders, from across the public, private and community sectors, with the opportunity to engage, debate and progress ideas with thought leaders from across the world on the major leadership challenges facing Australia’s engagement with the region.

The Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP) has been promoting deliberation on the Rules Based Order – and has given priority to identifying influential points of view around the Indo-Pacific region.

Asialink is today delighted to announce our new Advisory Council. The new Council will be chaired by Mr Peter Varghese AO.

Asialink Arts presented two exceptional Australian companies at the forefront of creating immersive visitor experiences and creative environments at Boao Culture and Creativity Week in China.

A message from Penny Burtt, Asialink Group CEO.

Here is our suggested summer reading for those who are committed to deepening their Asia knowledge and insights over the end of year break.

Here is our suggested summer listening for those who are committed to deepening their Asia knowledge and insights over the end of year break.

“The global competence of our youths today may shape our future as profoundly as their reading, math and science skills.”

In October 2020, the Australian Government called for submissions for an inquiry into Australia's creative and cultural industries and institutions to be considered by the Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts.

From around the world, and across Australia, it is becoming increasingly clear to many in education that young people need to "...understand their responsibilities as global citizens and know how to affect positive change."

How are artists bringing new meaning to soft power through exchange and cultural diplomacy across the Asia Pacific? A new report invites further discussion for future policy change.

Asialink Arts’ conference explored soft power agendas and the status of cultural diplomacy, creative exchange and artistic influence across the Asia-Pacific.

To mark ASEAN Day on 8 August 2020, an interactive webinar on “ASEAN-Australia: The Road to Recovery” was organised by the ASEAN Committee in Canberra (ACC), the ASEAN-Australia Council (AAC) and Asialink.

In a recent study, AEF found that ‘Respect’ is the key value identified in Australian primary schools.

Universities are facing an unprecedented financial shock following the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic raises new questions about the viability of the international student program and revives old questions about whose interests it serves.

Winning in Asia: Creating long-term value is a landmark new report that seeks to provide answers to many of the questions from business leaders, policy makers and investors about what it takes to succeed in the competitive markets of our region.

AEF believes that intercultural learning is at the heart of creating a thriving future for Australian students.

Australia’s latest defence planning documents—a strategic update and a force structure review—depict a more perilous security environment in Asia and commit to acquiring greater military firepower as a consequence.

Elevating Asian-Australian leadership from the backrooms to the boardrooms.

Forging closer cooperation with Asia on education has to be a priority for Australia. Never before has it been so important that young Australians can shape and navigate the world with confidence, knowledge, intercultural capability, ethics and empathy.

We thank you for your support as we continue to drive creative engagement between Australia and Asia. 2019 was a special year for Asialink at the University of Melbourne.

What are the consequences of COVID-19 for this region’s strategic and foreign policy environment? With AusCSCAP, we conducted a survey to find out.

William Ah Ket (1876-1936), barrister, was born on 20 June 1876 at Wangaratta, Victoria, only son and fifth child of Ah Ket, storekeeper..

Cultural Diversity Day, 21 May, is a day to celebrate Australia's multicultural population. It’s a wonderful opportunity to promote inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone writes AEF, Executive Director, Hamish Curry.

The World Health Assembly has agreed set up an international inquiry into the origins of COVID-19. On the eve of the vote, Asialink Group CEO Penny Burtt reviewed how Asialink has tracked the unfolding geopolitical challenges the pandemic poses for the Indo-Pacific.

The Asian experience with COVID-19 is as varied as the region’s politics, economics and culture.

"We want to be able to create a bridge between Australia and India.. it's about creating something that goes both ways."

The COVID-19 pandemic presents a challenge that cuts to the heart of what we do at Asialink: forging networks and opening doors to greater engagement between Australia and Asia.

For Asia TOPA, Asialink Arts presents a cross-sectoral conference exploring ‘soft power’ agendas and the status of cultural diplomacy, creative exchange and artistic influence across the Asia Pacific.

As another year comes to a close, we're proud to present a collection of the writing that has influenced the Asialink team.

12 of the most insightful and influential speeches from Asialink's 2019 events, including Sean Dorney, Peter Varghese, Gareth Evans and Dr Muneera Bano.

The first-ever National Australia-ASEAN Youth Forum gave over  70 secondary students across Australia the opportunity to debate and find consensus with their counterparts across Southeast Asia, writes Hamish Curry, Executive Director of Asia Education Foundation. The location - Sydney's iconic Opera House. The focus of discussion - digital connectivity.

To maintain its influence, Australia will have to invest in other elements of national power, most obviously in its under-resourced diplomatic capacity, write Melissa Conley Tyler and Mitchell Vanderwerdt-Holman

As China marks 70 years of communist rule, Beijing will benefit from absorbing the lessons of history in its relations with Southeast Asia, writes Donald Greenlees.

Today, China faces a new economic and social reality. After 40 years of unprecedented development it must now look for new sources of growth as it transitions from an export and production-led economy to a focus on domestic consumption.

As the People’s Republic of China turns 70, a key question that countries around the world are grappling with is how China views the international order. Whether or not you agree, it’s worth understanding how China’s foreign policy elite see these issues.

Can dance foster a more inclusive world? Can the arts open up new approaches to our relations with China? The arts and culture are central to social cohesion, yet restrictive understandings of the arts can also lead to greater marginalization and exclusion, of individuals and of cultural groups.

Is it possible to represent ideas of utopia through craft and dissolve boundaries between formal exhibitions and impact the everyday reality of the city? That’s the mission and question posed by Artistic Director Jae-young Ahn in this year’s iteration of the 2019 Cheongju Craft Biennale.

In this video Dr Pippa Dickson reflects on her experiences of Beijing Design Week, an annual event that aims to raise public design awareness as well as to help develop stronger design infrastructure and discourse in Beijing.

For a while last week the Brisbane suburb of Toowong was the top news story in South Korea. How did this happen? And what does it mean for Australia’s engagement in the region?

ASEAN-Australia connections have been high on the political agenda in the recent years. Political, security, trade, education and development links have been formalised and growing. But where do cultural relations and co-operation between Asia and Australia stand?

Vietnam has steadily emerged to become one of Southeast Asia’s economic powerhouses. In the process, the Communist state’s effort to embrace capitalism has produced some stellar personal successes, writes Donald Greenlees.

Former Australian Ambassador John McCarthy says Australia now faces the challenge of forging a national consensus on an external security policy that reflects our self-confidence and maturity as a nation.

Addressing the under-representation of Asian-Australians in senior leadership positions.

A Victorian artist is invited to apply for a short turn around opportunity to travel to Jiangsu Province on a fully funded six-week residency from September 1 to mid-October 2019.

Western governments, including Australia, will find it increasingly hard to stay on the sidelines of this bitter fight for Hong Kong's future as the Special Administrative Region counts down to the end of China's 'one country, two systems' guarantee in 2047, writes Donald Greenlees.

Australia’s options for defending itself are in the news with the release of Hugh White’s How to Defend Australia. Will it shake up thinking? Or is it too hard to change the way we do Australia’s defence because there is no appetite for change?

Thai politics is about to become less authoritarian. But a new political divide is taking shape in the post-junta era as politically-active Thai’s coalesce around the two poles of pro and anti military. Former ambassador James Wise asks: How democratic will the new political order be? And how stable?

The June G20 summit offered US President Donald Trump a critical opportunity to consolidate relations with two nations – Japan and India – at the heart of attempts to manage the rise of China.

Only six of the biggest 100 companies are run by executives with a non-European background, potentially limiting Australia's ability to capitalise on its proximity to the powerhouse economies of Asia.

Asialink Arts and the Pickle Factory Dance Foundation are delighted to announce the recipients of the 2019 Australia - India Dance Exchange.

In a recent interview with In The Black magazine, Asialink Group CEO Penny Burtt underlines the continuing importance of Australia’s deep engagement with Asia.

The last five years have seen a marked increase in the number of women representing Australia at senior levels in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). There are many other areas where the lessons from DFAT’s Women in Leadership Strategy can be applied.

The terms of the debate might be finally settled, but the contest will go on and on, writes Melissa Conley Tyler.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison delivers major foreign policy address at Asialink, in the lead-up to the 14th G20 Summit.

Each year the Asialink Leaders Program goes to Canberra for an intensive series of discussions with senior leaders in government, academia and the diplomatic corps. Last week they were invited to the Chinese Embassy for dinner, at the invitation of the Ambassador.

Indonesia have quietly backed away from plans to buy Russian-made fighter jets. So what role did US sanctions have on the decision? Asialink Senior Advisor Donald Greenlees analyses the latest episode of Indonesia pitted between great powers.   

It is our ongoing ambition to see languages form a much bigger part of the narrative of learning in this country. When we engage with languages foreign to us we must be open to meaning, and really listen, writes Hamish Curry.

Marise Payne’s experience in defence and security has been obvious, but what more will drive her diplomacy, asks Asialink Director of Diplomacy Melissa Conley Tyler.

Attempts by opposition forces to de-legitimise Widodo’s victory could leave a lasting scar on Indonesia’s young democracy, writes Donald Greenlees.

Silence on foreign policy during this year's election campaign was a calm before the diplomatic storm, writes Asialink International Director Tony Milner.

AANZFTA: the ASEAN–Australia–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, which turns 10 years old in 2019. So what has AANZFTA achieved? And what lessons does it have for other regional negotiations such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)?

Carrillo Gantner, Patron of Asialink and former Chairman, first visited China in February 1977 and went on to become one of the most influential Australian cultural ambassadors in history. This year he delivered the Annual Address for the Australia-China Institute for Arts and Culture.

Australians face a set of decisions in foreign policy arguably more important to us than any national decisions since the Second World War, writes John McCarthy.

With tensions sharpening ahead of the formal announcement of Indonesia’s election results on 22 May, the government has started to crack down on threats of unrest by radical Muslim supporters of defeated candidate Prabowo Subianto.

At the conclusion of one Indonesian election, it might seem strange to contemplate the next, but the 2019 presidential election signposts a significant transition in politics that will be evident by the time the nation votes again in 2024, writes Donald Greenlees.

Melissa comes to Asialink after 13 years as National Executive Director of the Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA).

Renowned scholar Professor Ramesh Thakur assesses the political landscape after five years of Modi rule and evaluates an electoral system that could offer some useful lessons for Western countries, including Australia.

On the eve of Indonesia's presidential and parliamentary elections, Donald Greenlees charts the course of man-of-the-people President Joko Widodo's first term in office, and assesses the chances of his biggest competitor.

The full benefits of the Australia China Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) took affect at the start of this year. In this address to the Henan Investment and Trade Fair, Asialink Chairman The Hon Andrew Robb AO maps out the opportunities now up for grabs.

What are the regional implications of Brunei's recently approved Islamic criminal laws, known as hudud? Donald Greenlees counts the costs of this divisive new direction from the small ASEAN member state.

While the Prime Minister will remain unchanged, Sunday’s election in Thailand has thrown up some surprise results, writes James Wise, who served as Australia’s Ambassador to Thailand from 2010 to 2014.

It will be increasingly necessary to develop strategies to deal with concerns over the way China seeks to influence debate in the West, without stereotyping an entire community to the detriment of our own interests, writes Donald Greenlees.

Professor the Hon Gareth Evans AC QC has called for Australia to address the underrepresentation of Asian-Australians in senior leadership positions, in a wide-ranging Sir Edward 'Weary' Dunlop Asia Lecture in Sydney.

Each year Asialink awards a Sir Edward 'Weary' Dunlop Asia Medal to an Australian who has strengthened Australia's engagement with Asia. The 2018 Medal has been awarded to diplomat, public servant and educator Mr Peter Varghese AO.

As technology increasingly shapes our world, education needs to incorporate global competence with a focus on human interactions and intercultural understanding.

Asialink Arts announces a suite of creative engagements throughout Asia for 2019.

Just over 20 years ago, a letter from Australian prime minister John Howard to the president of Indonesia, B.J. Habibie, set in motion a chain of events that would lead to East Timor’s passage to nationhood, writes Asialink Senior Advisor Don Greenlees.

This address by former Australian foreign minister The Hon Gareth Evans was presented to the 2019 Asialink Leaders Program, encompassing foreign policy in a 'post truth' era, China, North Korea, the United States and more.

With its unparalleled dependence on Asian trade and deep security entanglement in the Asian region, Australia is on the front line of the transformations  preoccupying the global community in the coming decades.

In the last event in our popular This Is Not a Drill series, we gazed into our crystal balls and puzzled through a hypothetical population explosion in Australia, 15 years in the future.

Asialink Group CEO Penny Burtt has announced the appointment of Dr. Pippa Dickson as the new Director of Asialink Arts.

Acclaimed Australian artist Heather B Swann travelled to Japan in 2017 to begin an extended period of research and artistic creation. The outcome, I let my body fall into a rhythm of which was showcased at BUoY Arts Center in Tokyo, to be followed by The Ian Potter Museum in Melbourne.

At the third event in the This Is Not a Drill series, our expert panellists confront a hypothetical public health emergency. Join Ali Moore’s crack team as they devise a plan to protect the population and stem panic in the face of a pandemic.

This short guide for Australian business takes a snapshot of our critical regional neighbour ahead of the approaching general election.

We travelled to six countries to meet six remarkable women. Now available to view online, this series first broadcast across the region on ABC Australia.

The South China Sea has become one of the region’s biggest potential flashpoints – but, hypothetically, what could happen if Australia were dragged into a conflict between rival powers?