Australia helping Indonesia thrive

WRITTEN BY MELISSA CONLEY TYLER AND TOM BARBER

24 May 2022

As part of Australia’s federal election campaign, on 17 May (then) Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong announced the opposition’s Southeast Asia strategy, which includes an additional AUD 470 million in development aid to the region, the creation of a new “Office of Southeast Asia”, the development of an ASEAN economic strategy, and the appointment of a Special Envoy for Southeast Asia.

This announcement shows the importance being placed on the region by Australia. Across the board, there is an impetus for Australia to reinvigorate its engagement with Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia. Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) recently expanded its Southeast Asia focus from one to two divisions and has an Indonesia Policy Review Taskforce looking at how to take this key relationship to the next level. The most recent federal budget increased Australia’s development package to Southeast Asia, with Indonesia the second-largest recipient of Australian overseas development assistance.

A focus on areas like health, education and economic growth provides an opportunity to connect with some of Indonesia’s key priorities.

The question is where Australia can have the most impact in its engagement with the region, and how the government can encourage other actors to engage with the region. In 9DASHLINE earlier this year I wrote about how Australia can be a partner for Southeast Asian recovery and growth. Looking at areas where Australia can contribute the most, a group of experts identified health, education and economic growth as crucial areas where Australia can have an outsized effect.

Crucially, these are areas where the government will not be able to have an impact alone and needs to build partnerships with other actors. Some recent initiatives show ways that the government is drawing in other actors, and where new actors are taking the lead. Australia’s Southeast Asia engagement benefits not only from a whole-of-government approach but also from a whole-of-nation approach where government and non-government efforts are congruent and complementary.

A shared approach

An example where the government is working to draw in the private sector is the business development program Katalis, designed to maximise benefits from the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (IA-CEPA). Meaning catalyst in Bahasa Indonesia, Katalis aims to foster an environment supportive of commercial partnerships between Australian and Indonesian businesses. To do this it focuses on sectors with the most potential for long-term mutual economic benefits, such as agri-food, advanced manufacturing, education, health, and digital and professional services.

One example of this is the work being done to explore opportunities for how Australia’s green technology industry can support Indonesia’s ambition to become a hub for electric vehicle manufacturing. The Australian government has allocated funding of AUD 40 million over five years (2020-2025) to Katalis as a way of promoting private sector engagement and growth.

Community taking the lead

There are also examples where community organisations are taking the hint and are independently stepping up their engagement in the region. A recent example is the Minderoo Foundation, established by the family of Australian billionaire Twiggy Forrest, which in March announced a global investment in early childhood with Indonesia as its initial focus. Called Thrive by Five, it is based on the insight that the first five years of life are crucial for children’s futures. For a compelling explanation, have a look at the TED talk by seven-year-old Molly illustrating what a difference engagement and play make to children’s development and life potential. Improving parenting is a key intervention with huge flow-on effects, including building resilient societies.

What is interesting is that Minderoo has moved beyond promoting this approach in Australia to establishing a global program and Indonesia is its first partner. Working with the University of Sydney, tools have been developed based on anthropological and neuroscientific research created specifically for each country. This means each program is culturally distinct, based on each country’s cultural and social requirements, not simply translating the language of materials, with an app and non-digital materials developed specifically for Indonesia.

Government taking the lead

There will always be areas where the government will need to take the lead. One is in capacity-building for governments in the region. An example is the Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Economic Development, known as Prospera, which is a collaboration between DFAT and Indonesia’s Coordinating Ministry for the Economy to “foster more effective Indonesian economic institutions and policies that contribute to strong, sustainable and inclusive economic growth”. It does this by matching experienced Australian public servants with Indonesian government departments to provide advice, technical assistance, and logistical support. In addition to building capacity, this process has the added benefit of nurturing a wider regional network of officials and advisers who can better tackle shared future problems.

An invested insider

These are all examples of the sort of areas in which Australia can focus to contribute to Indonesia’s success. Because Australia is not a dominant actor in Southeast Asia it needs to identify the best avenues to maximise its influence to shape trends in the region. A focus on areas like health, education and economic growth provides an opportunity to connect with some of Indonesia’s key priorities. Crucially, by expanding the involvement of a range of actors in a whole-of-nation approach, Australia can have more impact.

As a country that benefits from Southeast Asia's success, Australia has a stake in promoting broader and deeper engagement, focused on the most significant challenges, to support inclusive and sustainable growth. When such engagement is supported by government and non-government entities and programs alike, Australia and its partners are all the richer for it.

DISCLAIMER: All views expressed are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent that of the 9DASHLINE.com platform.

Author biographies

Melissa Conley Tyler is the Program Lead and Tom Barber is Program Officer at Asia-Pacific Development, Diplomacy & Defence Dialogue (AP4D). This piece draws on a paper published by AP4D “What does it look like for Australia to be a … Partner for Southeast Asian Recovery & Growth”. They thank all the organisations involved in consultations to produce this report. Image credit: Flickr/Australian Embassy Jakarta.