Securing Australia’s Future
SAF03: Smart engagement with Asia: Leveraging language, research and culture
The depth of Australia’s linguistic and inter-cultural competence will be a determining factor in the future success of developments in innovation, science and technology, research capacity, international mobility, trade relations and economic competitiveness.
In the medium to longer term, the Asia Pacific region will be a principal focus, presenting major challenges and opportunities economically, socially and culturally, for our national security interests.
“Asian Australians bring with them skills, social networks and cultural knowledge, which can enhance links between Australia and various parts of Asia. They should be involved regularly as informal ambassadors focusing on entrepreneurship, innovation, philanthropy and volunteerism”
Launch of Smart engagement with Asia report
Smart engagement with Asia: Leveraging language, research and culture, launched by Professor Ian Chubb AC FTSE at the Footscray Community Arts Centre on 5 June 2015.
Expert working group member, Professor John Fitzgerald presented the key findings of the report, followed by Dr Ouyang Zi, Science/research diplomacy exemplar, an early career researcher in the field of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering.
The launch included a live performance of an excerpt from Victoria Chiu’s contemporary dance piece ‘Do you speak Chinese?’ and an exhibition by Australian-Papua New Guinean artist, researcher and passionate advocate of Pacific people and culture, Lisa Hilli.
Professor Ian Chubb, Launch of the ACOLA report – Smart Engagement with ASIA, Footscray Community Arts Centre, 5 June 2015
Expert Working Group
ACOLA, for its established ability to deliver interdisciplinary evidence-based research that draws on specialist expertise from Australia’s Learned Academies, convenes the SAF03 Expert Working Group (EWG) to guide the development of a targeted study that draws input from several disciplines to create a well-considered, balanced and peer-reviewed report.
The role of the EWG is to provide strategic oversight and provide expert input, analysis and provocative thinking.
| Professor Ien Ang (Chair) | Professor Chennupati Jagadish (Deputy) |
| Professor Kent Anderson | Mr John Fitzgerald |
| Professor Fazal Rizvi | Professor Krishna Sen |
| Professor Mark Wainwright |
Authors
| Professor Ien Ang | Dr Yasmin Tambiah |
| Dr Phillip Mar |
Peer Reviewers
This report has been reviewed by an independent panel of experts. Members of this review panel were not asked to endorse the Report’s conclusions and findings. The Review Panel members acted in a personal, not organisational, capacity and were asked to declare any conflicts of interest.
ACOLA gratefully acknowledges their contribution.
| Professor Kam Louie | Professor Max Lu |
| Professor Andrew McIntyre | Dr Vaughan Turekian |
Project Funding and Support
ACOLA gratefully acknowledges the contribution of the Australian Government through the Commonwealth Science Council; Australian Research Council and the Office of the Chief Scientist. This research was funded by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council.
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Acknowledgements
The Expert Working Group expresses its gratitude to the experts who contributed to this project through participation in meetings, roundtables, interviews and surveys. The names of individuals and organisations consulted through such processes, and who facilitated survey distribution, are listed under Evidence Gathering.
The Expert Working Group thanks the Public Diplomacy and Communications Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, particularly the Public Diplomacy Branch, for it’s contributions. We are grateful to Robert Tranter,and to Juliette Brassington, Ruth Pearce, Alison Purnell, and Sonia van den Berg.
We offer our appreciation to the Office of the Chief Scientist, especially Dr Ryan Herbert, Dr Will Howard and Dr Michael Hughes, for their advice and feedback during the project.
Our gratitude to Dr Kylie Brass and Dr Christina Parolin of the Australian Academy of the Humanities for their multiple contributions to the project, and to the Academy for its project support services on behalf of ACOLA.
The Expert Working Group is grateful to the ACOLA Secretariat for their support, especially to Rebecca Skinner and Dr Renée Dutton.
We thank the Institute for Culture and Society at the University of Western Sydney for administrative assistance; and the Smart Services CRC for the venue for EWG meetings.
We also thank the Australian Academy of the Humanities, the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, the Australian Academy of Science, and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering for their assistance with sourcing participants for the round-tables and distributing surveys.
Our gratitude to Dr Thomas Barlow, Brigid Freeman, Professor Yudhishthir Raj Isar, Dr Mark Matthews and Jonathan Cheng for their contributions to this project as authors of consultant reports.
The Expert Working Group thanks Wesa Chau, the coordinator and co-author of the report on international cultural engagements among Australians of Pacific Islands and Asian descent, and the community consultants who assisted with community engagement for the report — Wang Zhengting, Lisa Hilli, and Surjeet Dhanji.
We thank Dr Phillip Mar for his research contribution to the project.
The contribution of our research assistants — Giulia Dal Maso, Nandita Das, Emily Rankine and Kearrin Sims — is also appreciated.
The Expert Working Group appreciates the many contributions of Dr Yasmin Tambiah as Project Manager, including project administration, research and report writing.
Project Management Support
| Project Manager: Dr Yasmin Tambiah, University of Western Sydney |
| Project services provided by the Australian Academy of the Humanities on behalf of ACOLA |
Contributing reports
Reports commissioned or specially undertaken for Securing Australia’s Future: Smart Engagement with Asia (SAF03)
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- A strategy for Australia’s international engagement in science and research based on positioning in key transnational research value chains, Dr Mark Matthews, Jonathan Cheng, 10 August 2014
- Australia’s Approaches to Cultural Diplomacy With/in Asia: An Overview, Phillip Mar, 12 January 2014
- Australian Research Collaboration in Asia, Thomas Barlow, 2014
- Australians living and working in Asia: Report for the Securing Australia’s Future Asia Literacy: Language and Beyond project, Brigid Freeman and Fazal Rizvi, June 2014
- Chinese and Indian diasporic scholars in Australia: Report for the Securing Australia’s Future Asia Literacy: Language and Beyond project, Brigid Freeman, September 2014
- Engaging Culturally with Many Asias, Yudhishthir Raj Isar, August 2014
- International Cultural Engagements among Australians of Pacific Islands and Asian Descent: A Preliminary Research Report, John Fitzgerald and Wesa Chau, 3 September 2014
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