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The Australia-Indonesia Dialogue is 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 2011.

The first in a series of dialogues themed “Regulating Religion in South East Asia and the Pacific: Preserving Religious Harmony and Seeking the New Model for State-religion Relations” took place in Bogor West Java on 5-6 June 2012. The dialogue was hosted by the PPIM and partly funded by the Centre for Research and Development for the Study of Religious Literatures and Heritages, Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Ten Australian delegates presented papers: Prof Samina Yasmeen, Prof Greg Barton, Associate Prof Paul Babie, Dr Melissa Crouch, Dr Dirk Tomsa, Dr Nicholas Herriman, Mr Stewart Fenwick, Bishop Philip Huggins, Mr Barney Zwartz and Dr Sven Schottmann as well as Centre for Dialogue Director Joseph Camilleri who presented an opening speech in the first session after PPIM Executive Director Dr Ali Munhanif.

Over two days, the following five sessions were held:

• Religious Freedom and Dialogues through the Understanding of Religious Sources and Literature
• The Politics of Religious Freedom, State Legal Framework and Religious Identity: Indonesia and Australia as case studies
• In Search of Better Relations between the State and Religion in a Regional Context
• Regulating Religion: Cases from South East Asia and Australia
• The Emergence of New Religious Movements in South East Asia and Australia

Sessions were chaired by PPIM resident researchers and lecturers at UIN: Dr Fuad Jabali, Mr Jajang Jahroni, Mr Din Wahid, Dr Saiful Umam, and Dr Ali Munhanif (Executive Director) who was also active throughout the dialogue in giving comments and asking questions to presenters.

There were three Indonesian presenters: Dr Septemmy E.Lakawa, Director of the Graduate School of Theology, Romo Andang L. Binawan from STF Driyarkara and Mr Chaider S Bamualim from Centre for Society, Religion and Cultures. In addition there were three South East Asian presenters: Dr Imtiyaz Yusuf from Assumption University Thailand, Ms Sitti Jehanne U Mutin Mapupuno from Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (Bangsamoro) Philippine and Associate Prof Vineeta Sinha, University of Singapore. Other participants who took part in the dialogue are PPIM staff members Dr Ismatu Ropi Head of PPIM, Mr Oman Fathurahman Deputy Director and Dr Dina Afrianty, project manager.

Key findings and recommendations from the first Dialogue are:

• The different level of importance that each country placed on the role of religion. For example, some Australian participants questioned whether the state should be involved in religious matters instead of addressing such issues under the rubric of civil society and rule of law, while Indonesian participants highly valued the role of the Ministry of Religious Affairs in maintaining ‘harmony’ between the various religions.
• There is a need for more dialogue between minority religion (eg Christian) with Australian minority religion (eg Islam) and Australian majority religion (Christian) with Indonesian majority religion (Islam). What???
• That future dialogues should involve some people with more extreme ideals, as all participants in the first event had relatively moderate views.
• To maximise the impact by including a more diverse range of participants in future dialogues, including not only academics but also key governmental stakeholders, ministers and civil society organizations, public figures such as artists, the media and more senior participants from both countries.
• That future dialogues should include more Indonesian experts on Australia in addition to the Australian experts on Indonesia.
• That the theme of the next dialogue, to be held in Melbourne in early March 2013, will be Regional Cooperation.

The Australia Indonesia Dialogue is sponsored by the Victorian Government Department of Premier and Cabinet, the AusAID International Seminar Support Scheme and Garuda Airlines.