Government and non-government roles

Introduction

Australian-Indonesian relations are mainly shaped by the geography of the two countries and their overlapping government interests. Australia's government sees opportunities stemming from a stable Indonesia as it is currently its tenth largest export market and eighth largest foreign direct investor, with trade between the two totalling more than $7 billion per year. It is the role of Australia's government, through AusAID, and non-government organisations (NGOs) such as Community Aid Abroad, World Vision and Austcare, to promote democracy, economic growth, security reform and bilateral relations to take advantage of these opportunities as well as offer humanitarian aid where appropriate. NGOs are non-profit organisations that receive most of their income from voluntary donations by the general public. An example of the roles taken by NGOs is that of Aid Watch, which has looked at monitoring aid expenditure by Australia's government and informing the public of the destination and utilisation of these funds. This chapter focuses primarily on the role taken in Indonesia by Australia's government aid agencies.

Roles in democracy

It is hoped that reform of Indonesia's democratic and legal institutions will improve the ability of excluded Indonesians, particularly the poor, to influence policy making. This reform is seen as crucial to improving investor confidence and growth of the private sector. In 2004, Australia's role in this reform was in the support given by the Australian Electoral Commission to Indonesia's first-ever direct presidential election. The Commission did this through the training of election officials, and the funding of a domestic voter education and an election-monitoring network of 100 000 volunteers.

Roles in social services

Government roles in aiding Indonesia's accessibility and quality of social services include national policy engagement and district support for planning and implementing basic education for roughly 45 million students with the creation of a well-resourced mainstream education and vocational skills training system. This is hoped to provide opportunities for young people who have completed basic education and also to improve employment prospects for older workers. Aid agencies have also planned and implemented health, water supply and sanitation improvements.

Roles in security

The biggest security role for Australian aid agencies is in tackling counter-terrorism issues. Instability resulting from terrorist acts and organised criminal activity hinders its development goals. One response was the building of financial intelligence and border control agencies such as the Trans-national Crime Centre, which was established with assistance from Australia's development cooperation program, and the Australian Federal Police who delivered training in incident management response and intelligence analysis. Its funds came from a four-year, $10 million counter-terrorism programme, addressing not just Indonesian law enforcement but also terrorism, human trafficking, child-sex tourism, people smuggling and illicit drug trading. Proposals for the centre followed the October 2002 Bali bombing when the need to work cooperatively to combat terrorism and other trans-national crime became more critical. Joint investigations of the Bali and Marriott bombings by the Indonesian National Police and AFP encouraged such trends in international law enforcement.

Roles in regional development

Australia's development role has focused on improving regional and provincial governance and accessibility to basic services in Indonesia's poorest provinces. An example of programmes directed at this is the Australia-Nusa Tenggara Assistance for Regional Autonomy (ANTARA) programme, which aims to promote sustainable economic and social development in these provinces. This has been implemented through the development cooperation strategy along with other existing programmes to ensure a flexible approach. Another example is an AusAID plan called PENSA (Program for Eastern Indonesia Small-Medium Enterprises Assistance). Its aim has been to reduce poverty in Indonesian coastal communities by helping seaweed farmers gain access to world markets and add value to their product through increased production and the development of local value-added processing.

Roles in humanitarian assistance

Humanitarian aid to Indonesia has involved support from both national and international agencies. However, the number of international agencies has decreased. It has increasingly been Australia's role to enter into longer-term, strategic partnerships with small numbers of key humanitarian agencies. The aim is to tackle the ongoing issues of conflict, as well as natural disasters such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Assistance has been given to the Indonesian Red Cross to strengthen its disaster prevention role.