These Aussies learned Indonesian, and a new world opened up for them Meanwhile, Australia is drifting towards monolingualism, as increasingly fewer students learn a foreign language in schools and universities.

Love this - there are as many reasons to learn Indonesian as there are would-be learners cc: @aciciscd.bsky.social
theindoau.substack.com/p/these-auss...

The terrain this series is will cover. What does it mean to write a history of Australia and Indonesia together?

The terrain this series will cover.
open.substack.com/pub/yearsofl...

The Years & Years of Living Neighbourly Series Launching the Series: The Years and Years of Living Neighbourly

The Years & Years of Living Neighbourly Series
open.substack.com/pub/yearsofl...

To the 14 Queensland students who sat the Year 12 QCE examination in Indonesian in 2024, I offer my congratulations and gratitude. Welcome to a very special club. I hope to see you on a New Colombo Plan-supported @acicis.bsky.social program in Indonesia soon.

The Pledge has (so far) been endorsed by twenty-two organisations across Australia. We would welcome your organisation’s endorsement of the Pledge (email: enquiries@acicis.edu.au)

The Pledge for Asian Languages in Australian Schools YouTube video by Acicis

The Pledge is calling for restoration of federal funding for the teaching and learning of Asian languages in Australian schools at a level of $20 per Australian school student per year or approximately $84 million per annum nationally, equivalent to the level prevailing between 1995 and 2002.

The Pledge for Asian Languages in Australian Schools - Acicis

In the face of the ongoing decline in the teaching and learning of Asian languages in Australian schools, particularly at senior secondary (Year 12) level, Acicis earlier this year launched the Pledge for Asian Languages in Australian Schools:

www.acicis.edu.au/blog/the-ple...

As of 2024 there are fewer than five Queensland schools teaching Indonesian at Year 12 QCE level, with the Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority (since 2020) no longer reporting the exact number. In 2024, 14 students sat the Year 12 QCE exam for Indonesian.

Investing in the future of Asian language literacy in Australia by learning from the past - Asian Studies Association of Australia The Australian Consortium for “In-Country” Indonesian Studies (ACICIS) — the organisation I head up — is here today as the direct result of previous Australian Government policy choices and public inv...

Between 1995 and 2002, the strategy saw the Australian Government invest $207 million ($479 million in today’s dollars) into increasing the study of Asian languages by Australian students: asaa.asn.au/55224-2/

Like other states (NSW, VIC, and WA) I’ve examined over recent years, the Queensland experience again reinforces the efficacy of NALSAS.

In terms of enrolments, between 1994 and 1998 (the third year of NALSAS) annual Year 12 (QCE) Indonesian enrolments more than tripled—from 84 enrolments in 1994 to 272 enrolments in 1998.

By 2001 this number had grown nearly threefold to 35 Queensland schools teaching Indonesian at Year 12 (QCE) level.

In 1994, the year prior to the launch of the Australian Government’s National Asian Languages and Studies in Australian Schools (NALSAS) strategy—there were twelve Queensland high schools teaching Indonesian at Year 12 level.

accidentally grooming myself into a parasocial relationship with Doc Evatt

Hi @austjia.bsky.social. This is volume to which I wanted to link: www.internationalaffairs.org.au/wp-content/u...

...but I get a 404 error message when clicking on the link.

Haven’t found a video of Maie Casey yet.

LONGINES CHRONOSCOPE WITH RICHARD G. CASEY YouTube video by PublicResourceOrg

There’s a 15 minute interview of Richard Casey taken from American television in 1952 available on YouTube, which is great for getting a sense of the man--his accent, his comportment, and, of course, his mustache:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGSK...

The accounts of Casey’s wife, Maie Casey, by contrast, leap off the page and make me want to read more about her. So I’ve gone and got myself hold of Diane Langmore’s 1997 biography of Maie Casey “Glittering Surfaces”: www.booktopia.com.au/glittering-s...

However, the accounts of Casey’s effectiveness as Foreign Minister in this @austjia.bsky.social volume are somewhat mixed.

Serving as Minister for External Affairs in the Menzies government from 1951 to 1960, Casey’s influence on shaping the organisational culture of the early Department of External Affairs (later to become DFAT) is undeniable.

In preparing my chapter for a forthcoming book on 30 years of @acicis.bsky.social, I had occasion to read @mconleytyler.bsky.social et al.’s 2012 volume on the life and career of Australia’s second longest-serving Foreign Minister, Richard Casey:

www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianou...

Indonesia cracks me up I swear. So many videos of very intense scary situations, but also a LOT of people having a good time amongst it

I just finished reading (listening to) "Revolusi", David Van Reybrouck’s excellent new account of the Indonesian National Revolution (1945-49),  published in English earlier this year (Febru... I just finished reading (listening to) "Revolusi", David Van Reybrouck’s excellent new account of the Indonesian National Revolution (1945-49),  published in English earlier this year (February 2024):...

In keeping with my post last year about David Van Reybrouck’s excellent 2024 book "Revolusi", it’s great to see the world historical significance of the Indonesian National Revolution beginning to be recognised within the Anglosphere.

lnkd.in/gCayQSnB

Wonderful to see outstanding Australian scholars of this period of Indonesian history among the talking heads, including @robertcribb.bsky.social from the Australian National University and @susieprotschky.bsky.social, formerly at Deakin University and now at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

How the Dutch manipulated the narrative of colonising Indonesia | Featured Documentary YouTube video by Al Jazeera English

Check out this new documentary on the Indonesian National Revolution (1945-49). Al Jazeera released it last weekend to coincide with the 80th anniversary of Indonesia’s declaration of independence on 17 August 1945.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRVk...

100% agree

CLASSIC LNL: John Burton - ABC listen John Burton was probably the most controversial and visionary public servant of the 20th Century. Branded a "pink eminence" of the Labor Party by conservative critics, he was clearly one of the most i...

@erincook.bsky.social have you ever listened to the 2004 Phillip Adams LNL interview with John Burton: www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

He (Burton) relates his part in the Molly Bondan story from about the the 9m10s mark.

* It takes ACARA about 12 months to consolidate Year 12 enrolment data from the various state and territory curriculum authorities -- hence the lag in reporting these statistics.

The full ACARA Year 12 languages enrolment data deck for the period 2010-2023 is available for download here: www.acicis.edu.au/wp-content/u...

The Pledge has (so far) been endorsed by twenty organisations across Australia. We would welcome your organisation’s endorsement of the Pledge (email: enquiries@acicis.edu.au)