Australian Deputy Ambassador to Indonesia, Gita Kamath officially opened the #AussieBanget University Roadshow at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta (UIN Jakarta), celebrating the strong educational ties between Australia and Indonesia.
Strategy
Indonesia, as the economic and political centre of ASEAN, is critical to anchoring regional openness — but it must deliver on its domestic reform agenda to be in a position to take up that mantle.
Corporal Jemma Fulton, of 9th Force Support Battalion, experienced that pressure on Exercise Super Garuda Shield in Indonesia, her first exercise as a linguist.
With Jakarta’s focus spread across its economic engagement with major powers, and its expanding global role through platforms such as the G20, BRICS, and its ongoing OECD accession process, Australia, despite its geographic closeness and deepening economic ties must navigate a relationship where Indonesia’s diplomatic bandwidth is increasingly global in scope.
The Indonesian government has allegedly approved a US$450 million (AU$682.5 million) loan to acquire the Italian Navy’s retired aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi, marking the latest regional power to join the aircraft carrier “club”, leaving Australia behind regional trends and established power projection norms.
Indonesia has responded to the arrest of two Australian citizens accused of trying to arm Papuan separatist fighters, warning that it would not tolerate threats to its territorial integrity and calling for closer coordination with Canberra to investigate cross-border arms networks.
The two sides also explored potential areas for further cooperation, including logistics, military medicine, search and rescue operations, and UN peacekeeping. Both nations reaffirmed their commitment to coordinating closely with and supporting each other in international forums, particularly within the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) and the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus).
The Royal Australian Air Force deployed six F-35A Lightning II aircraft from 77 Squadron, 150 personnel and a KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport to Indonesia for Exercise Elang Ausindo 2025 in August.
KRI Brawijaya, the Indonesian Navy’s (TNI AL) first Multipurpose Combat Ship/Pattugliatore Polivalente d’Altura (PPA) has arrived in Indonesia following a six-week voyage from Italy.
Indonesia’s Prabowo Subianto, clad in a tailored gray suit, sat shoulder to shoulder with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, grinning, chatting, clapping in unison as missiles and drones rolled past.
(Paywalled) – Indonesia and Australia’s joint efforts at sea would target “a full range of maritime threats”, including “those against sovereignty”, human and drug trafficking and environmental crimes, both countries’ ministers said after the 2+2 meeting in Canberra.
Students will be selected through a competitive process with country-based quotas to ensure broad representation across the region. Undergraduate students from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam will be eligible to apply.
Indonesia and the United States have begun annual joint military exercises with forces from a dozen other nations including Australia, as the US pushes its allies to take threats from China more seriously.
Indonesia has asked Australia to support its accession to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) by deepening bilateral economic ties, a senior minister said.
Australia is actively advancing its diplomatic and economic presence in Southeast Asia through high-level visits to Indonesia and Vietnam, aiming to strengthen trade, enhance regional security, and foster technological innovation.
The Indonesian Air Force (TNI AU) has released the first image of its Dassault Rafale fighter jet, still on the assembly line in Mérignac, France, but already bearing national insignia and a two-tone grey camouflage.
