Global Utilities

La Trobe University
Centre for Dialogue

Australia-Indonesia Dialogues

The Australia-Indonesia Dialogues are jointly organised by the Centre for Dialogue, La Trobe University and our partner institution The Faculty of Social and Political Science (FISIP) and Centre for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) Universitas Islam Negri (UIN), Jakarta. A Memorandum of Understanding between our two institutions was signed in January of 2011.

The first in a series of dialogues will be hosted by UIN in Jakarta, with its main theme “The Relationship between State and Religion in Southeast Asia and Australia: Preserving Religious Freedom and Maintaining Social Harmony”, on 5-6 June 2012. The event will comprise of four sessions:

  1. The Politics of Religious Freedom, State Legal Framework and Religious Identity: Indonesia and Australia as case studies
    This session will discuss the issue of religious identity through the lens of the experience of these two countries. It is expected that the panel will address issues of citizenship and identity by looking at conflicts over the constitutional and legal framework and the role of religious identity.
  2. In Search of Better Relations between the State and Religion in a Regional Context
    This session is designed to discuss the issues of interconnectedness of the process of globalization in the construction of new model of relationship between the state and religion. It is expected that the panels will address the problem of relationship between the two domains through the lens of comparative experience of developed countries and the developing world.
  3. Regulating Religion: Cases from South East Asia and Australia
    This session is designed to examine the role of government in administering and regulating religious life in each country of SEA (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines) and Australia. We expect to have comprehensive information on the issue of religious freedom and regulation of religious life in those countries. In this part, each presenter will be expected to discuss the nature of government regulation of religious affairs, to analyze the socio-political contexts behind the issuance of those regulations; to analyze the contents of regulations; and to propose a better guideline for the government to manage religious affairs in each mentioned country.
  4. The Emergence of New Religious Movements in South East Asia and Australia
    The objective of session is to provide analysis on the socio-religious and political background to the emergence of new religious denominations in SEA. We are looking at the response of the government and societies (civil society and religious authority) to this development. Having the understanding of these will enable us to see if the existing regulations and state policies are in line with the emergence of new religious movement (NRM) in SEA.

We have invited a number of scholars and experts, retired or serving policy makers and religious or community leaders who are known to have a strong interest in the relationship between state and religion. We expect to have ten participants each from Australia and Indonesia, as well as four participants from nominated South East Asian countries.

We expect each participant to prepare a short 15-minute presentation in one of the four sessions which is most closely aligned to their area of work and expertise. Most of the time in each of the sessions will be taken up with an exchange of views based on the dialogue method.

A first draft of the paper (5000-6000 words) from all our invited participants in Australia, Indonesia and South East Asia is expected by 5 February 2012. We have in mind a significant publication either as a special issue of an internationally refereed journal or an edited book to be published in Indonesian and English by a reputable South East Asian publisher.

We are also currently soliciting funding for the Australia-Indonesia dialogues project and would be able to offer our sponsor institutions promotions on any advertising materials we produce and other negotiated exposure.

For more information, please contact our project officer Ms Monika Winarnita at the Centre for Dialogue or Dr Dina Afrianty at the State Islamic University.