The Tip of the Iceberg? Murdoch university is the latest Australian university to announce plan to abolish Indonesian studies.

Murdoch University management has announced that the teaching Indonesian is no longer viable. They explained that the number of enrolments is just too low. So, why do fewer and fewer students want to study Indonesian at university?

The work of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research in Indonesia is an example of how Australians can use Indonesian in their work. Source: Murrumbidgee visit 2 by ACIAR Australia/Creative Commons

Director of the Australian Consortium for In-Country Indonesian Studies (ACICIS) Liam Prince believes the Federal Government’s higher education policy announced in October can help stop declining enrolments in Indonesian studies because it makes language studies cheaper. And the increasing number of entrants in the National Australia Indonesia Language Awards (NAILA) indicates that the interest is there. So why are there still problems?

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IA CEPA Signing Ceremony. Students can use Indonesian as part of the growing business relationship between Indonesia and Australia. Source: IA CEPA Signing Ceremony by Australian Embassy Jakarta/Creative Commons