After spending several years rebuilding from the disruption of COVID, the Australian Consortium for ‘In-Country’ Indonesian Studies (Acicis) has reached a milestone many may not have expected so quickly.
Its 2025 Annual Report reveals the organisation delivered a record 817 student placements in Indonesia during the year, a 22 per cent increase on 2024 and the highest annual total in its 31-year history.
The result is significant not simply because it represents organisational growth, but because it points to a broader shift in Australia’s relationship with Indonesia at a time when successive governments have been warning that Australia’s Asia capability has declined.
Only days ago, the Federal Government released the parliamentary report Security and Prosperity in Asia: Building Australia’s Asia Capability, calling for a national effort to rebuild Australians’ understanding of the region. Acicis appears well placed to be part of that solution.
Since being established in 1994, more than 5,000 Australian university students have now studied in Indonesia through Acicis, making it one of Australia’s longest-running and most successful outbound mobility initiatives.
The report paints a picture of an organisation that has not only recovered from the pandemic but is evolving.
While traditional semester-length study abroad remains an important part of its offering, growth is increasingly being driven by shorter, professionally focused experiences and customised university programs.
Professional practicum enrolments almost doubled during 2025, rising 89 per cent to 212 students, while tours and intensive programs increased 42 per cent to 200 participants. The fastest-growing area continues to be customised university programs, which accounted for 357 students during the year.
The report notes that 43 per cent of all Acicis enrolments in 2025 came through Monash University’s Global Immersion Guarantee (GIG), highlighting how universities are increasingly embedding overseas experiences into their curricula rather than treating study abroad as an optional extra.
That trend mirrors developments across Australian higher education, where institutions are looking for scalable, short-term international experiences that are easier for students to fit around work, family commitments and degree requirements.
Yet the report also highlights an ongoing challenge.
Despite overall growth, semester-long programs remain stubbornly below pre-pandemic levels. 48 students enrolled in Acicis semester programs during 2025, down 44 per cent on 2019 figures, continuing a trend that has concerned mobility providers across the sector.
It’s a reminder that while outbound mobility has largely recovered in volume, the nature of student mobility has changed.
Students increasingly favour experiences lasting between two and eleven weeks, with full semester exchanges proving much harder to rebuild.
That pattern is also reflected nationally.
Drawing on Australian Universities International Directors’ Forum (AUIDF) data, the report shows 43,033 Australian university students undertook overseas learning experiences during 2024, up 25 per cent on the previous year, although still well below pre-pandemic highs. Indonesia attracted 1,829 Australian students, making it Australia’s sixth most popular study abroad destination globally and the second most popular destination within the Indo-Pacific behind Japan.
Perhaps more importantly, Indonesia accounted for 12.7 per cent of all Australian undergraduate mobility within the Indo-Pacific under the New Colombo Plan, reinforcing its growing strategic importance.
Government support continues to underpin much of that success.
Since the New Colombo Plan began in 2014, Acicis has secured more than $23 million in funding, supporting more than 4,600 Australian students to undertake study, internships and professional placements in Indonesia across disciplines ranging from agriculture and law to journalism, public health and creative arts.
The report also acknowledges that some of the exceptional growth in 2025 reflected Acicis running additional program rounds in order to fully utilise New Colombo Plan funding before Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade project deadlines expired.
That makes this year’s record particularly impressive, although sustaining similar growth rates beyond 2025 may prove more challenging without continued funding certainty.
Another notable feature of the report is its emphasis on outcomes rather than simply participation.
An alumni tracer study found Acicis graduates continue to make substantial contributions to Australia’s engagement with Indonesia long after completing their programs. Among the findings highlighted is that alumni produced 152 publications relating to Indonesia and Southeast Asia during 2025 alone, illustrating the program’s long-term impact on research, policy and bilateral relationships.
For an organisation whose core purpose has always been strengthening Australia-Indonesia understanding, those longer-term outcomes arguably matter more than annual enrolment numbers.
The report also provides a poignant reminder that 2025 was not solely about growth.
It pays tribute to long-serving accountant Jason Parish, who passed away in April 2026 after nearly a decade with the organisation. Colleagues remember him not only for his professionalism but for his longstanding connection with Indonesia and commitment to the broader community.
Looking ahead, Acicis enters its fourth decade with considerable momentum.
Next month the consortium will publish Experiencing Indonesia: 30 Years of Acicis, documenting three decades of educational engagement between Australia and Indonesia.
For Australia’s international education sector, the report offers a timely reminder that international education is not only about attracting students to Australia.
Outbound mobility, particularly into strategically important neighbours such as Indonesia, plays an equally important role in building the cultural understanding, language capability and professional networks that governments increasingly describe as essential national assets.
If Australia’s Asia capability is genuinely to be rebuilt, organisations like Acicis may prove to be among the country’s most valuable, if sometimes understated, success stories.
