Australia–Indonesia ties are strong, but a missed opportunity lies in the classrooms of these neighbouring countries to embed their shared pre-colonial history and deepen mutual understanding. Language learning is where to start.
Much attention has been paid to boosting the two countries’ relationship on matters of security and trade in the recent past. The signing of the Australia-Indonesia Treaty on Common Security in February is a good example. Yet little has been done to foster the long-term people-to-people links that are essential to the success of such treaties.
The best place to start is by reintroducing Australian schoolchildren to the Indonesian language. Fewer Australian Year 12 students study Indonesian now than in 1989, when the “Australia and the Northeast Asian Ascendancy” report was published. And the Australian high school curriculum is noticeably light on Indonesian history. How many high schoolers know, for instance, that the first foreign visitors to this land came not from Europe but from Indonesia? Or that prayers to Allah were heard here long before the introduction of Christianity?
From at least the 1500s, Indonesian fishers from the island of Sulawesi were sailing to the northern coast of Australia looking for trepang (sea cucumber), a prized culinary delicacy. Mostly Bugis and Makassarese people from Sulawesi (although commonly grouped under the label Makassan), these fishers collected and processed trepang before sailing north again to sell the commodity to Chinese merchants throughout Southeast Asia. The Makassans were mostly Muslim and are considered the first people to introduce Islam to Australia.
Australia and Indonesia are bound by geography, shared waters and a relationship that predates European settlement.
In exchange for trepang, goods such as calico, cloth, tobacco and tamarind were traded. The primary reason for the success of this trading relationship, according to anthropologist John Bradley, was that “it was fair – there was no racial judgment, no race policy”. The traces of this connection remain embedded in First Nations loan words such as rrupiya (money) and lipalipa (canoe). This relationship makes the Makassans Australia’s first and oldest recorded trading partner. But it wasn’t just a trading relationship; Makassan men and First Nations women established families, with some relocating to Indonesia.
The depth of this connection led Australia’s then Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney to note in 2022 that “the trade relationship between the Yolngu people and the Makassans marked the beginning of interactions from Aboriginal people on the north coast of Australia with the outside world”. But these connections have waned. And when students now study Australia’s past, they learn about the sojourns of Bass, Flinders and Tasman.
However, there is an opportunity right now to reverse that trend, starting with the Albanese government’s rollout of the National Curriculum: Australian History Content. This new curriculum, which includes truth-telling in the Humanities and Social Sciences subjects, could build cultural awareness about Indonesia and offer Australian students a deeper understanding of the countries’ shared history. Within this, the Makassar–Yolngu relationship could be embedded as part of the Making and Transforming the Australian Nations (1750–1914) module, taught in Year 9. At the state level, Victoria’s rollout offers a concrete opportunity to pilot this content.
The incentive for the federal government to support this move is clear. That most new Australian prime ministers make Indonesia their first overseas visit is not just a custom, it’s a pragmatic move. Australia and Indonesia share one of the world’s longest maritime boundaries. Indonesia, with a population of more than 280 million, is the world’s third-largest democracy. And with the highest Muslim population in the world, it stands in contrast to Australia’s small but vibrant Muslim community, which makes up just 3% of the population. Indonesia is on the cusp of becoming a global economic powerhouse and is predicted to become the fourth-largest economy in the world by 2050.
Australia and Indonesia are bound by geography, shared waters and a relationship that predates European settlement. Security treaties can cement a partnership but they cannot manufacture the mutual understanding that sustains one. The Albanese government has the motive and momentum to achieve these goals through the education curriculum. The question is whether it will use them.
