australian delegates

Alexander Meekin

Alex has been fascinated by Indonesia since studying Indonesian in high school, and since his first visit to Lombok to study Indonesian at the University of Mataram has continued returning to Indonesia for studies, personal travel and in a professional capacity. He was posted to the Australian Embassy in Jakarta from 2017-2020 when he worked on cyber cooperation and building links with Eastern Indonesia. He now works as Assistant Director in the Indian Ocean and South Asia Regional Branch of DFAT.

 

Dan Trevanion

Dan is a young, passionate leader with expertise in law and business operations, particularly in the Australia-Indonesia relationship. He is a national director of AIYA, former company secretary of the ASEAN-Australia Strategic Youth Partnership, and co-chairs the ANU Alumni Sydney Network.

Dan’s interest in examining industries and companies that will impact the world led him to create the East Meets West Podcast, a podcast syndicated on Spotify, Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts. Through EMW, Dan has interviewed leaders from companies like Dropbox, BetaShares and Magellan.

Dan has received several awards and scholarships over the years, including the Lawyers Weekly 30 Under 30 award, the Australian Institute of Company Directors Not-For-Profit Scholarship, and the McKinsey & Company Young Leaders Forum Scholarship.

Fiona Bettesworth

Fiona is a consultant working for global firm WSP, specialising in community and stakeholder engagement. Her extensive experience extends across local government, state government, private and the not-for-profit sector across infrastructure, transport, urban planning, mining and community development. Based in Perth, Fiona is working to foster collaboration and opportunities between the company’s Perth and Jakarta offices.

Her passion for the Australia-Indonesia relationship spans over a decade, fostered by her experience learning Indonesian in high school. Fiona has spent time living in both Surabaya and Jakarta and has travelled widely across the archipelago. In 2017 she founded Real Indonesia, a sustainable tourism enterprise aimed at connecting socially and environmentally conscious travellers to authentic travel experiences in Indonesia beyond the tourist strips of Bali.

Greg Reynolds

Greg is a passionate student of Indonesian culture, language and contemporary society. Greg has used this passion to help strengthen understanding and connections between Australian and Indonesian youth alike by facilitating in-country study programs through the New Colombo Plan across Indonesia. He volunteered as an adviser to an Indonesian NGO, Yayasan Hidung Merah, during an Australian Volunteers program in 2016-17, and is a fluent Indonesian linguist.

Greg is a Policy Officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and has served as Consul at the Australian Consulate-General in Makassar. He holds a Bachelor of International Studies (Honours), a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the University of Adelaide.

Karis Erceg 

From 2016-2019 Karis lived in Java and Bali completing her Bachelor degree in community development and international aid and development, and her Honours thesis on community-based ecotourism in northern Bali. She has seen firsthand the beauty of Indonesia and the need to protect its natural environment and its culture. It’s a place that continues to draw her back.

She works for the Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions in Joint Management within the Aboriginal Engagement and Heritage Unit. Joint management is a partnership between the state government and Aboriginal corporations to manage lands and waters in Western Australia. Through her research in Indonesia and in her current role, she has experienced the importance of good relationships in cooperation and decision making and feels passionate about cross cultural learning and exchange.

Kate Thresher

Kate holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons), a Bachelor of Arts (Indonesian) and Honours in Asian Studies. During her studies, she received a New Colombo Plan Scholarship to complete her Honours on Blasphemy Law in Indonesia. She spent the year in Yogyakarta, Malang and Jakarta.

Kate is currently the Research Associate to Chief Justice Quinlan of the Supreme Court of Western Australia. Previously, she worked as a solicitor in the Disputes team at Herbert Smith Freehills.

Kirby Taylor

Kirby is a Policy Officer in the Indonesia Branch at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. She is also pursuing a Master of Diplomacy at ANU, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from RMIT University.

Kirby has an interest in education and people-to-people links, drawing on her significant experience working for the Department of Education, Skills and Employment and managing international scholarship programs and student cohorts at Swinburne University and at the ANU – including for flagship programs such as Australia Awards and the New Colombo Plan.

Kirby has a long affiliation with Indonesia having studied Indonesian since secondary school. She has been an active volunteer with AIYA and has completed internships in Jakarta at the Australian Embassy and the United Nations Information Centre. Kirby completed a semester of study at Universitas Gadjah Mada in 2015 as part of the ACICIS Flexible Language Immersion Program, supported by a Victorian Government Hamer Scholarship.

Marlene Millott

Marlene is the Program Manager at the Australia-Indonesia Centre, leading the Partnership for Australia-Indonesia Research (PAIR). Funded by the Australian Government, PAIR connects leading researchers from Australia and Indonesia to collaborate on sustainable development projects.

In her role, she oversees the research process including project consultation and design, implementation and advocacy, working closely with an incredible AIC team and stakeholders in Australia and Indonesia to deliver policy recommendations for governments based on evidence from research. PAIR’s research topics include health, youth skills development, social inclusion, agriculture, transportation and infrastructure. This role has enabled Marlene to learn about a wide range of development issues in Indonesia and produce research papers of her own.

Marlene is also on the Victorian Committee for the Australia-Indonesia Business Council, where she works with leaders in industry and government to connect the business and trade community with opportunities to support their activity in the bilateral relationship.

Max Stretton

Max is an Associate at Bespoke Territory and Strategic Project Officer at INPEX Corporation. At Bespoke he works closely with the Paul Henderson and Mike Burgess to provide companies with major investment in Northern Australia with commercial and political strategy advice. At INPEX he works on strategic projects with Governments and other stakeholders.

Max has experience as a lawyer, a Judge’s Associate in the NT Supreme Court and a law clerk at the Territory’s largest law firm.

He has a Certificate in Sustainable Investing from Harvard Business School, a Bachelor of Laws from Charles Darwin University and a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice from the College of Law. His legal studies included time studying in Yogyakarta and Beijing.

Having been born, studied and worked in Indonesia, Max is passionate about the Indonesia-Australia relationship. He is also a Balinese Dancer and has performed at several festivals and showcases.

Rebecca Lambert

Rebecca is a sustainability professional, graduating with a Master of Marine Science and Management degree this year. She currently works in the private sector in Sydney and has over 10 years public sector experience in various positions, predominantly working for the NT Government.

As a born and raised Territorian, her passion for the Australia-Indonesia bilateral relationship stems from primary school days, where she first studied the language. Several years later she was selected as a delegate for the Australia Indonesia Youth Exchange Program (AIYEP), which led her to develop and co-found a sports diplomacy project, supported by DFAT, called Netball Indonesia. Netball Indonesia was based in Lombok in 2016 and used sport as a vehicle to strengthen people-to-people relationships between Australia and Indonesia, while also promoting women’s participation in sport.

Rebecca’s time in Lombok also deepened her love for our oceans, and she completed a dive master certification which led to working on superyachts and liveaboards abroad. She is so excited to be selected as a delegate to represent Australia at CAUSINDY and looks forward to meeting fellow delegates to tackle this year’s theme of sustainable tourism.

Rohana Wood

Rohana is an experienced stakeholder engagement, communications, media and partnership manager with 10+ years experience across APAC. Rohana has worked with impact VC Accelerating Asia, supported social entrepreneurs in Indonesia and facilitated cross-country financing opportunities for creative projects. Her stakeholder engagement experience spans the government, corporate, private and tech sectors.

She has worked on entrepreneurship programs with USAID, Enterprise Singapore, UNDP, the Italian Trade Agency, Austrade and a number of MNCs and universities.

Sophie Hewitt 

Sophie works as a Federal Prosecutor at the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions in Sydney, focusing on organised crime and national security. Prior to this, she worked as an Associate to a Supreme Court Judge.

Sophie attended ANU and studied Law and Asian Studies, majoring in Indonesian. She studied for 18 months in Indonesia, including under the New Colombo Plan Scholarship. She primarily studied Indonesian law, writing her skripsi on terrorism rehabilitation programs. Highlights of studying in Indonesia include making life-long friends and experiencing the wonders of martabak manis.

Sophie was involved in AIYA for six years, including as Indonesian Operations Officer and Company Secretary. One of her proudest achievements in the field is working with ANU, ACICIS and NCP to improve their responses to sexual harassment experienced by exchange students and presented on this topic at an international education conference.

Taylor Bonin 

Taylor is an emerging community developement practitioner with a keen interest in working alongside youth across Australia and Indonesia. He currently works in local government with a focus on youth engagement, as well as volunteering through the Australian Volunteers Program as a mentor with Yayasan Cipta Mandiri in Bogor. Previously, Taylor has worked for several years in the youth homelessness sector in Australia and New Zealand. He holds a Bachelor of Arts and Honours in International Studies from RMIT University. In his spare time, he enjoys photography and hiking.