Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has recently outlined reforms to the New Colombo Plan (NCP) that address some of the challenges identified in our research on Australian students’ engagement with the Indo-Pacific. She also announced that Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Tim Watts will lead consultation to ensure the NCP’s next phase is fit for purpose and builds Indo-Pacific capability for Australia.
The NCP has significantly boosted the number of Australian students learning abroad and shifted their preferences from the traditional destinations of English-speaking and European countries to the Indo-Pacific.
At its peak in 2019, around one in four (23%) Australian undergraduate students participated in learning abroad.
The program has contributed to making Australia one of the most inclusive places in the world in terms of widening access to learning abroad for its students. At its peak in 2019, around one in four (23%) Australian undergraduate students participated in learning abroad, compared to 7.4% in the United Kingdom and 16% in the United States. In that year, Australian students undertook around 58,000 international mobility experiences – which focus on educational, professional, social and intercultural skills – almost double the number in 2013, prior to the introduction of the NCP. Almost half (49%) of domestic undergraduates went to the Indo-Pacific.
In her announcement, Wong highlighted that she wanted NCP participants “ to bring back not just lasting memories, but new skills and capabilities that will broaden our national understanding of our region”.
Our research found that acting as ambassadors to their home and host countries, and enriching regional understandings and connections, are among the capabilities that NCP participants can develop during their Indo-Pacific experience.
Home and host country ambassadors
Our longitudinal research project – across 1,371 NCP students and alumni from 40 Australian universities, and interviews with 298 key stakeholders and government representatives in Australia and Indo-Pacific communities – showed that Australian students learning abroad in the Indo-Pacific feel a sense of dual responsibility as representatives of both their home and host countries.
Helen, an NCP scholar to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, was able to change local host communities’ opinions about Australia being “superior” and immerse herself into the local community. She noted:
I sort of redefined people's perspectives… like when people told me that “before you came, we had X, Y, Z opinions about Australia and now after being friends with you, our perspective is changed and it's really nice to have this connection with you.
Learning abroad also makes students more aware of their own Australian identity. Christine, an NCP student to Korea said:
I'm really excited. Next week, the university [in Korea] runs what they call a global fair… I'm going to be the only Australian running the Australian stall.
Some other NCP students and alumni feel an intrinsic commitment to advocate for their host community and counter any ignorance or prejudice among their Australian friends or families.
Daniel, an NCP student to Papua New Guinea, shared:
Throughout my time in PNG, I was really active on my social media and just communicating with my friends about how amazing and transformative my time in PNG is. And that way trying to communicate to people that PNG isn't [a] place to be feared or not want to go to. It's rather a place where we can go there and learn so much from the people and they can learn from us and we can both kind of unite together.
Our research also found that NCP students took action to build mutual understanding and cooperation between Australia and their host communities. Many were actively engaged in collaborative initiatives such as refugee support services, environment protection activities, human rights action, women empowerment campaigns and local community volunteer activities.
Challenges
Along with the many positive aspects of the NCP, Australian students can also experience significant challenges.
The top three are:
• dealing with an Indo-Pacific language (89%)
• dealing with the culture (84%)
• adjusting to teaching and learning methods (79%)
Many NCP participants’ efforts in being ambassadors for their home and host countries were ad hoc and organic, impeded by their lack of Indo-Pacific language competency and cultural literacy.
The reform about creating a new language steam within the NCP recently announced by the government is a positive step. Indo-Pacific language capability is vital to Australian students’ experiences in the region, their ongoing professional and inter-cultural growth, and to nurturing deeper and more sustained engagement with the Indo-Pacific.
The new External Advisory Group of the NCP should also consider the following critical questions.
What are the most effective ways to attract Australian students to participate in NCP intensive short courses and longer-term immersive programs, especially for students from Australian universities that do not offer specific Indo-Pacific language programs?
What are the mechanisms to avoid the dominance of some major languages and encourage the uptake of less dominant but important Indo-Pacific languages in this new language stream?
What are good practices and mechanisms to incentivise and incorporate the development of Indo-Pacific languages in NCP programs throughout its full cycle of pre-departure, in-country and re-entry stages?
How could digital technologies, transnational language tuition, and cultural literacy programs be leveraged to support NCP students’ flexible engagement with language development earlier on in their NCP cycle and sustain their interest in enhancing Indo-Pacific language capability post NCP-journey?
As a reciprocal mobility program, the NCP is a game changer for Australian student mobility. It has been used as an effective vehicle for Australia to build multilateral relationships and engage with the Indo-Pacific region over the past ten years. It contributes to humanising public diplomacy and highlighting the role of Australian youth in increasing Indo-Pacific impressions about Australia, and influencing Australian communities’ perceptions about the Indo-Pacific.
