The Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Education have increased the number of awards for Australian undergraduates under the New Colombo Plan’s 2020 Mobility Program by 15 per cent.
The program will now support 11,196 undergraduates from 40 Australian universities to complete short-term study and work-based experiences in 36 locations across the Indo-Pacific.
In a joint statement, the Departments said cross-cultural education was an important part of Australia’s engagement with the Indo-Pacific.
They said the initiative continued to provide more opportunities for undergraduate students, which in turn deepened Australia’s people-to-people, business and university links with the region.
“Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea are the most popular Pacific destinations, with the Republic of the Marshall Islands to host New Colombo Plan Mobility Program students for the first time in 2020,” the Departments said.
“Over the next three years, 75 undergraduates will study the impact of climate change on local communities in the Marshall Islands and develop projects to support sustainability and resilience.”
The two Departments said they ensured Australia’s broad diversity was represented with one third of Mobility Program undergraduates coming from rural and regional areas, an increase in the participation of Indigenous students and greater gender equality.
“Over half of the more than 25,000 students who have completed a New Colombo Plan Mobility Program to date, have been women,” they said.
“The growing cohort of New Colombo Plan alumni shows our commitment to increasing links with the Indo-Pacific.
“This influential and diverse network of young Australians, with direct experience in the Indo-Pacific, will continue to contribute to deepening regional understanding and ties,” they said.
