National Reference Group

Dr Elisabeth Kramer

Member

Dr Elisabeth Kramer is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences, a Scientia Fellow and an ARC DECRA Fellow (2023) at UNSW Sydney. She previously held the position of Deputy Director of the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre at the University of Sydney. She completed a PhD in Indonesian Studies, focused on Indonesian political parties and their use of anti-corruption discourse in political communication and campaigning. Elisabeth has taught a number of Southeast Asia-related courses, including in-country field school units as well as Indonesian language to non-native speakers.

Dr Kramer also holds a BSc/BA(Asian Studies)(Hons) from the University of Sydney and a Masters of International and Community Development from Deakin University. Between studying and working in academia she has also worked as a public servant, an international development consultant and an ESL teacher.
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Professor Caitlin Byrne

 Member

Professor Caitlin Byrne is the Pro Vice Chancellor (Business), Griffith University.  Prior to this appointment, Caitlin was the Director of the Griffith Asia Institute and was the Assistant Professor of International Relations and Diplomacy at Bond University, Gold Coast. She is a Faculty Fellow of the University of Southern California’s Centre for Public Diplomacy (CPD), and alumna of the Asialink Leaders Program 2016.

Caitlin’s teaching and research is focused on diplomacy and soft power in the Asia-Pacific with a special interest in the role and relevance of people-to-people links including those forged through international education, culture, sport and social media.

Caitlin consults on occasion to government. She is deeply engaged in Queensland’s international policy community, including as a member of the Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA) Queensland Executive, and the Fulbright Selection Committee for Queensland.

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Tom Power

Member

Tom Power is a lecturer in Indonesian at Flinders University, with a research interest in Indonesian political studies, including political parties, democracy and corruption. He is an alumnus of the ACICIS East Java Field Study (EFJS) program at Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang in 2012.

Sarah Argles

Member

Sarah Argles is the Associate Director Travel Risk and Safety at Monash University, overseeing travel safety protocols for all Monash staff and student travellers. She has over 15 years of experience in differing roles in the learning abroad sector and has expertise in travel risk and safety, study tour development and learning abroad governance. She led her first ever study tour to Indonesia in 2013, which transformed into one of the first New Colombo Plan funded programs. Sarah has a BS Business Administration from the Ohio State University, an MA Intercultural Relations from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA, is an IEAA (Associate Fellow) and is an active member of Pulse: International Safety and Security Professionals in Higher Education, Inc.

Dr Thor Kerr

Member

Thor Kerr is Dean ASEAN at Curtin University and a senior lecturer in its School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry. Thor co-chairs the Western Australia East Java Universities Consortium (WAEJUC) and has held a fellowship at Universitas Airlangga. Thor has authored two books, led two edited volumes and written many articles for academic and general publications. Thor has supervised Indonesian PhD projects and undertaken collaborative projects with researchers in Indonesia. Thor has coordinated study tours, given public lectures and keynote presentations at several universities in Indonesia.

Thor has extensive experience living and working in Indonesia. In the late 1990s Thor worked in journalism for The Jakarta Post and local television. He then co-founded Southeast Asia’s leading construction information service, BCI Asia, and its FuturArc media brand. Thor served as the founding Commissioner of PT BCI Asia until 2021 when it was merged into Byggfakta Group and listed on Nasdaq Stokholm. Thor enjoys Indonesian novels and time with family in Java.

David Norman

Host (UWA) Representative

David Norman is Senior Policy Advisor to the Vice-Chancellor at the University of Western Australia. He leads the UWA’s counter foreign interference work and is the Secretary of UWA’s Defence and Security Committee.

With former Foreign Affairs and Defence Minister Stephen Smith, David created UWA Public Policy Institute, which works to increase the translation of UWA research into evidence-based policy, and to increase the impact of UWA’s work in Australia, the Indian Ocean Region and the Indo-Pacific. He is a former board member of the Australia Indonesia Centre and former Chair of the WA-East Java Universities Consortium. David has 30 years of experience working in public and private tertiary education in Australia, the UK, Japan and Spain, and in government in the UK.

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Dr Sara Beavis

Member by invitation

Dr Sara Beavis is a Senior Lecturer at the Fenner School of Environment and Society at the Australian National University where she convenes and teaches courses in water science, water management and island sustainability at undergraduate and graduate levels.  She has published extensively on the impacts of natural and anthropogenic processes on water quality, water security and water management.  Current research includes: the transport and fluxes of heavy metals associated with artisanal mining in eastern Indonesia; the implications of climate variability and change on water and sediment quality in inland and coastal aquatic environments; and, examining the ethical dimensions of water resources management in the Pacific and Pacific Rim region.

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Lydia Santoso

Member by invitation

Lydia is an Australian qualified lawyer and public notary, specialising in the area of Indonesian-Australian law. She speaks fluent Indonesian and English and has worked in law firms in both Sydney and Jakarta. Lydia has acted for many Australian businesses with interests in Indonesia, Indonesian business owners located in the greater Sydney area, Indonesian property developers, and many Indonesians living in Australia. She has also represented the Indonesian Government in Sydney. Lydia is passionate about fostering Australia – Indonesia relations and spends much of her time on philanthropic endeavours in this field. She currently holds appointments as an Advisory Board Member of DFAT’s Australia Indonesia Institute (since 2015), Vice Chair of the NSW Branch of the Australia Indonesia Business Council, and as the founding Chair of the Balai Bahasa & Budaya Indonesia of NSW.

Dr Kirrilee Hughes

Member by invitation

Dr Kirrilee Hughes is an international education professional with expertise across Southeast Asia and in the global higher education and schools sectors. She has held leadership and strategy roles for global education organisations as well as sessional teaching and research positions at four leading Australian universities. Kirrilee is a Senior Fellow of the International Education Association of Australia and currently works in Singapore, where she has founded an international education consultancy – Bestari Consulting.

Kirrilee’s doctoral research, undertaken through the Australian National University, focused on Australia’s Asia literacy agenda. She also completed her honours degree at ANU and is an ACICIS alumni – having undertaken two semesters of study in Indonesia through ACICIS in 2001. Kirrilee has previously managed the Australia Indonesia Business Council and held the role of Supervising Program Manager for the Australian Phase of the Australia Indonesia Youth Exchange Program, funded through Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

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