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ast week, the inaugural Indonesia-Australia Dialogue brought together 20 prominent Australians and Indonesians from a range of fields to discuss ways to improve the people-to-people relationship between the two countries. It is widely acknowledged that, while government ties are strong, people-to-people ties are lagging behind and are acting as a barrier to a more robust relationship.

One of the reasons that the relationship lacks depth is that while many Australians travel to Bali for holidays, few have spent time in other parts of Indonesia learning the language, studying or working. The Dialogue, ironically overshadowed by an Australian tourist drug scandal in Bali, was supposed to be an important step in increasing meaningful engagement between Australians and Indonesians. If both sides hope to improve people-to-people ties beyond this Dialogue, an issue that needs to be addressed immediately is immigration.

Immigration has long been a thorn in the side of the Australia-Indonesia relationship. For example, the Australian Consortium for In-Country Indonesia Studies (ACICIS) was established in the 1990s to help Australian students overcome the bureaucratic hurdles associated with arranging student visas for Indonesia. These bureaucratic hurdles have not gone away for students, business people and young people who want to spend time in-country. One clear example of how immigration schemes continue to needlessly inhibit strong people-to-people links is the work and holiday visa scheme.

In 2009, Indonesia and Australia signed a reciprocal visa arrangement allowing people under the age of 30 with tertiary degrees to work and holiday in each other’s countries. This scheme was developed to encourage more young Australians to spend time in Indonesia and young Indonesians in Australia.

Upon launching the scheme, Australia’s Minister for Immigration Chris Evans, said that “this new arrangement is an investment in future relations with Indonesia”. Despite its lofty ideals, however, this “investment” is unlikely to provide a healthy return – particularly for young Australians eager to come to Indonesia – because of the serious limitations and bureaucratic problems surrounding it.

To begin with, the scheme is subject to a number of limitations. For instance, only 100 visas are issued to young people from each country per year.

This contrasts starkly with the 15,000 young Australians who apply for similar work and holiday visas for the United Kingdom each year.

Additionally, the visa scheme is fraught with onerous bureaucratic processes for Australian applicants. After my own difficulties trying to arrange the visa I carried out a survey among more than 1,000 former and current Australian students who have or are studying in Indonesia through the ACICIS program, to find out whether others had successfully obtained one. I heard several stories echoing my own experience.

For example, people reported that inquiries about the visa were met with confusion by officials in the Indonesian Embassy and Consulate in Australia and Immigration in Indonesia, and that applicants were told incorrect information about the visa’s application requirements.

One student who managed to arrange the work and holiday visa in Australia arrived at Yogyakarta airport and was confronted by immigration officials who had never heard of this type of visa. They held his passport at the airport and took 10 days to officially validate the visa.

If the Australia-Indonesia relationship is to improve, it is crucial that Australian young people engage with Indonesia in a meaningful way.

Providing an easily accessible visa scheme is crucial to ensure that it is young Australians who have spent time in Indonesia working and studying, not those who have merely been caught up in drug-scandals in Bali, who dominate the discussion on the relationship.

Rachelle Cole
Jakarta