In 1992, Paul Keating said, ‘Asia is where our future substantially lies’. Decades later, the rhetoric remains, but the follow-through is still lacking. Despite Australia’s pivot to the Indo-Pacific, our cultural competency is inhibiting our progress, and our next generation of leaders is even less prepared.
National security decisions are often shaped by assumptions grounded in one’s own cultural framework. Misinterpreting another country’s motives, communication styles, or strategic behaviours due to cultural blind spots can escalate tensions or lead to strategic miscalculations. The cause of such blind spots lies within education systems that fail to equip future leaders with relevant regional knowledge and language skills, leaving them ill-prepared to understand or engage effectively with key Indo-Pacific partners.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Asia-focused engagement in Australia rose, with a particular interest on educating our youth. Under former prime minister Keating, programs such as the Asia Education Foundation were launched, Indonesian became one of the most taught Asian languages, and regional literacy was seen as a national strategic asset. At its peak in 2002, more than 1,000 Victorian Year 12 students studied Indonesian, while more than 300 did so in New South Wales. These numbers reflected a clear priority: building a generation of Australians who understood our region not just strategically, but linguistically and culturally.
Two decades later, this promising momentum has collapsed. By 2022, only 387 students in Victoria and just 90 in NSW studied Indonesian at Year 12 level, a decline of more than 60 percent. While the Asia Education Foundation and other programs still exist today, numbers have plummeted due to a shifting policy focus, low visibility and a lack of strong political advocacy.
Conversely, interest in studying Indonesian has grown in China, with at least 19 Chinese universities offering related modules and exchange programs in Indonesia. This shift reflects a growing recognition of Indonesia’s strategic importance to China. It’s a deliberate investment in future regional understanding, one that recognises language and education as essential tools of strategic influence.
For Australia, this trend presents a strategic challenge. As China equips a new generation of students with the linguistic and cultural tools to engage directly with Indonesian counterparts, it is also enhancing its ability to build trust, shape regional narratives and embed itself more deeply in key diplomatic, economic and security conversations. Without a comparable level of cultural and linguistic capability, Australian officials and institutions may find it increasingly difficult to engage with nuance, foster sustained partnerships, or counter competing narratives in the region. Over time, this capability gap could erode Australia’s relative influence in Indonesia and limit its ability to respond effectively to regional developments.
From a national security perspective, this matters. Language proficiency is not simply a communicative skill; it is a strategic enabler. Security outcomes improve when decision-makers possess cultural intelligence: the ability to interpret behaviour through the lens of another’s worldview. This intelligence is cultivated early, through education that prioritises understanding cultures and languages of Australia’s strategic region, rather than defaulting to traditional Eurocentric languages currently popular within our education system such as French and Italian.
National security training must begin long before entry into government. If Australia is serious about its place in the Indo-Pacific, we need to inspire the next generation to engage with the region. That means embedding cultural competency into the classroom. Expanding regional studies and prioritising languages such as Indonesian and Mandarin should be a national priority, not an afterthought. These languages reflect our geopolitical reality and are key to fostering culturally literate analysts, diplomats and policymakers.
To reverse declining enrolments, students need to see tangible value in choosing these pathways. That could mean higher university admission bonuses for strategic languages, scholarships for study abroad, or guaranteed internships in government and industry for high-achieving language students. These incentives work. A study found that over half of senior students said a university admission bonus had influenced their decision to continue language study into Year 12. The same paper also confirmed that bonus points, clearer university pathways and strategic messaging helped boost enrolments. When students see tangible academic and career value, they are more likely to commit to languages that reflect Australia’s regional future.
At the same time, we must support the teachers delivering this capability. A 2021 report commissioned by the Asia Education Foundation highlighted persistent challenges, including teacher shortages, limited training and a failure to properly integrate Indonesian studies into the curriculum.
Continuing to prioritise such European languages as French and Italian, while culturally enriching, risks reinforcing a Eurocentric bias that no longer aligns with Australia’s strategic future. If Australia wants to lead in the Indo-Pacific, we must invest in the cultural and linguistic capability of our youth. This is not just about language; it’s about building a generation that understands, respects, and can navigate the complexities of our region. By incentivising students and empowering teachers, we can turn cultural competency from a gap in our national security into one of our greatest strengths.