On Tuesday, 17 October 2019, the Australian Government announced the outcomes of the 2020 New Colombo Plan (NCP) Mobility Program. The Australian Consortium for ‘In-Country’ Indonesian Studies (ACICIS) was successful in securing $3.9 million in new mobility grant funding for consortium member institutions. This funding will support students to study in Indonesia on ACICIS programs between 2020 and 2023.
Specifically, this new funding will provide 1,181 mobility grants to Australian undergraduate students from ACICIS’ twenty-two Australian member universities, and support student participation in five short format programs in Indonesia, including the consortium’s Public Health Study Tour, Indonesian Language Short Course, Agriculture Professional Practicum, Development Studies Professional Practicum, and Law Professional Practicum.
Since 1995, more than 3,000 Australia and international students have undertaken study in Indonesia through ACICIS. In its first two-and-a-half decades ACICIS has contributed significantly to the maintenance of Indonesia-related expertise in Australia and the cultivation of a new generation of Australians with first-hand experience of – and passion for – engagement with Indonesia. ACICIS alumni now hold significant positions in government, academia and private enterprise and continue to contribute to the Australia-Indonesia bilateral relationship in a myriad of ways – well beyond their formative encounters with Indonesia as university students.
Today ACICIS is the longest running provider of in-country Indonesian study programs for Australian university students and the primary mechanism through which Australian students pursue study in Indonesia for academic credit. From small beginnings as a facilitator of accredited in-country Indonesian language study, ACICIS program offerings have grown to include both semester-long and short format programs in a wide range of disciplines including journalism, development studies, business and commerce, creative arts and design, international relations, and agriculture. The ACICIS consortium currently counts among its membership twenty-two Australian universities (including all of Australia’s Group of Eight) as well as Leiden University in the Netherlands and SOAS University of London in the UK.
