Indonesia is the most popular destination for Australian university students under the New Colombo Plan 2026, underscoring the growing importance of education as a bridge between the two countries. More than 1,300 Australian students began study, internships, research and community engagement activities across Indonesia between January 2025 and June 30, 2026, while the 2026 programme recorded its largest Indonesian participation in the history of the initiative.
The numbers tell part of the story. The more important development is what happens after students arrive.
They study alongside Indonesian peers, work with universities and businesses, visit communities, learn the language and take part in projects ranging from renewable energy and sustainability to health, engineering, business and social sciences.
For Australia and Indonesia, that creates something more durable than a short academic exchange. It creates personal relationships that can continue into professional life, research cooperation and future government and business networks.
Australia’s Acting Ambassador to Indonesia, Gita Kamath, described the New Colombo Plan as an important mechanism for building the next generation of Australia-Indonesia leaders. She said direct experience in Indonesia allows Australian students to develop friendships and professional networks that can strengthen bilateral relations in the years ahead.
A Record Year for Indonesia
The latest figures were announced by the Australian Embassy in Jakarta on September 11, 2026.
Indonesia emerged as the leading destination for Australian university students participating in the Australian Government’s New Colombo Plan. The programme recorded its highest number of participants in Indonesia since its establishment.
For 2026, funding was allocated for 29 scholarship recipients, 170 students undertaking semester programmes and 691 recipients of mobility grants.
The numbers represent different forms of engagement. Some students spend an extended period studying in Indonesia, while others undertake internships, research projects or shorter mobility programmes.
Taken together, the figures show how the programme has evolved beyond a conventional study abroad scheme.
Between January 2025 and June 30, 2026, more than 1,300 Australian students had started programmes in Indonesia through the NCP, participating in formal study, internships, research and community engagement activities across the country.
That scale gives Indonesia a particularly important position within Australia’s regional education strategy.
It also places Indonesian universities, businesses, government institutions and community organisations in direct contact with a growing number of young Australians.
Why Indonesia Has Become So Important
Geography is an obvious part of the equation.
Indonesia is Australia’s closest large neighbour and one of the most strategically important countries in Southeast Asia. But geography alone does not explain why students are choosing Indonesia in such numbers.
The NCP is designed to give Australian students first-hand experience in the Indo-Pacific, and Indonesia offers a combination of academic opportunities, economic diversity, cultural depth and proximity that makes it particularly attractive.
Students participating in the programme work with Indonesian universities, businesses and civil society organisations.
Their fields range from health and engineering to sustainability, business and social sciences. Many also undertake internships and collaborative projects.
That mix is significant.
A student studying engineering may encounter Indonesia’s rapidly developing infrastructure and energy sectors. A business student can observe one of Southeast Asia’s largest consumer markets. A student studying social sciences can gain direct exposure to the country’s enormous cultural and demographic diversity.
The experience can challenge assumptions that are difficult to change from a classroom in Australia.
That is one of the central strengths of international education.
From Classroom Learning to Real Experience
The Australian Embassy emphasised that NCP students are not simply studying in Indonesian classrooms.
They are participating in practical projects with Indonesian partners.
This distinction was particularly visible in the 2026 program.
Twenty-six Australian universities received NCP funding for programmes in Indonesia during the 2025 and 2026 funding rounds.
Among them was RMIT University, whose Capstone programme brought 43 final-year students in engineering and computing technology to Indonesia between June and July 2026.
The group studied Indonesian language and culture at the Institut Teknologi Bandung, or ITB, while also participating in projects with non-government organisations, government institutions and industry partners.
Their projects covered renewable energy, sustainability innovation and technology.
The RMIT example provides a useful picture of how the program is changing.
Students are not merely observing Indonesia.
They are working with Indonesian institutions to understand problems and explore possible solutions.
That creates a two-way learning process.
Indonesian partners gain access to new ideas, international networks and young professionals from Australia. Australian students gain practical experience in a country whose economy, society and policy environment are increasingly important to their region.
Gita Kamath: Building the Next Generation of Leaders
For Gita Kamath, the program’s value extends well beyond university campuses.
Indonesia is one of Australia’s closest neighbours and partners, she said, making direct engagement particularly valuable for students who may later become leaders in government, business, academia or civil society.
Through NCP, Australian students develop friendships and professional networks while gaining experience inside Indonesian society.
That people-to-people element is increasingly important in the Australia-Indonesia relationship.
Government agreements can establish frameworks for cooperation. Trade deals can create economic opportunities. Diplomatic visits can strengthen political ties.
But relationships between individuals often determine whether those frameworks become sustainable over time.
A student who spends months in Indonesia may return to Australia with Indonesian friends, professional contacts and a more nuanced understanding of the country.
Years later, that same person could become an executive, researcher, diplomat, policymaker or entrepreneur.
The relationship then continues through people who have already experienced each other’s societies firsthand.
Education as a Form of Regional Diplomacy
The New Colombo Plan was created with a wider regional purpose.
Its importance for Indonesia lies partly in the fact that education becomes a channel for long-term engagement without being limited to formal diplomacy.
Students can interact with communities in ways that government officials often cannot.
They can spend time on university campuses, work in companies, participate in community projects and experience daily life.
That creates a different kind of understanding.
For Indonesia, the programme also offers an opportunity to present the country through direct experience rather than through headlines alone.
This is especially relevant for regions outside Jakarta and other major urban centres.
Indonesia is not a single social or economic environment. Its provinces have different cultures, industries, geographic conditions and development priorities.
Exposure to that diversity can provide Australian students a more complete understanding of the country.
What This Means for Indonesia’s Eastern Regions
The national scale of the NCP programme also has implications for Indonesia’s eastern regions, including Papua.
The sources do not indicate that Papua was the principal destination of the 2026 NCP participants. It would therefore be misleading to describe the current figures as evidence of a major NCP programme in Papua.
However, the broader model has relevance for Papua’s development.
Australian universities and institutions have a long history of engagement with Indonesia, including cooperation in development, health, education, governance and environmental issues.
As Australia’s academic engagement with Indonesia grows, there is potential for more students and researchers to gain exposure to eastern Indonesia, where development challenges and opportunities are particularly distinctive.
Papua’s proximity to Australia adds strategic importance to this opportunity.
Academic exchange can contribute to a deeper understanding of Papua’s social and cultural diversity, environmental assets, economic potential and development priorities.
It can also create opportunities for Indonesian universities in Papua to build stronger international partnerships.
For a region seeking to strengthen human capital, such connections can be valuable.
Education, Development and the Indo-Pacific
The significance of the NCP programme also extends to Australia’s broader Indo-Pacific engagement.
Australia’s strategic environment is changing rapidly. Economic growth, technological development, climate change, energy transition and regional connectivity are creating new forms of cooperation across Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Indonesia sits at the center of many of those developments.
Australian students working on renewable energy, sustainability, technology or business in Indonesia are therefore studying issues that matter to both countries.
The RMIT Capstone programme illustrates this connection.
The students were not only learning the Indonesian language and culture. They were also working with government agencies, civil society organisations and industry on renewable energy and sustainable technology.
Those fields are increasingly important to Indonesia’s development.
They are also areas where Australia has substantial research and technical capacity.
Student exchanges can therefore become a pipeline for future cooperation in sectors that have economic and strategic significance.
The Business Dimension
The NCP’s impact is not limited to universities.
The involvement of businesses and industry partners creates another layer of cooperation.
Australian students who complete internships in Indonesia gain an understanding of the country’s business environment. Indonesian companies, meanwhile, have opportunities to work with young professionals who bring different academic and cultural perspectives.
Over time, those connections can contribute to stronger commercial networks.
This is particularly relevant as Australian companies look toward Southeast Asian markets and Indonesian businesses seek deeper international partnerships.
Education can serve as an early stage of that process.
A student who understands how Indonesian companies operate may later be better prepared to work with Indonesian partners.
Likewise, an Indonesian company that has hosted Australian students may develop relationships with Australian universities and professional networks.
The immediate result may be a semester project.
The long-term result can be a much broader relationship.
Cultural Understanding Matters Too
Not every outcome can be measured in economic terms.
Language and cultural understanding remain central to the programme.
The RMIT students’ Indonesian language and cultural immersion at ITB demonstrates the value placed on understanding Indonesia from within its society.
That is important because language shapes how people understand a society.
Learning Bahasa Indonesia provides Australian students access to conversations and experiences that may not be available through English alone.
It can also reduce cultural distance.
The result is a form of familiarity that can make future cooperation easier.
For Indonesia, having more Australians who understand its language and culture is also strategically useful.
It creates a larger pool of Australians capable of engaging Indonesia with greater confidence and nuance.
A People-to-People Partnership
The phrase “people-to-people links” appears prominently in Australia’s description of the programme.
That emphasis is deliberate.
Australia and Indonesia have developed extensive government-to-government relations, but bilateral ties cannot depend entirely on political leadership.
Governments change. Ministers change. Policies evolve.
Personal relationships can endure.
Students who meet in their twenties may remain connected for decades.
An Australian student who spends time in Bandung, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Bali or another Indonesian region may later become a professional with Indonesian contacts and cultural familiarity.
The same is true for Indonesian students who interact with Australian participants.
In that sense, the NCP is investing in relationships that may not produce immediate headlines but can influence the bilateral relationship for years.
A Useful Model for Papua
For Papua, the NCP experience provides a broader lesson.
Education partnerships work best when they connect classroom learning with practical experience.
Papua’s universities and communities have substantial knowledge of local development challenges. Australian universities bring research capabilities and international networks.
Bringing those strengths together could support future cooperation in fields such as environmental conservation, public health, agriculture, renewable energy, engineering, education and community development.
Such cooperation would need to be based on Indonesian institutional leadership and local priorities.
International academic engagement is most effective when it complements local knowledge rather than attempting to replace it.
This principle is especially relevant in culturally diverse regions such as Papua.
A Stronger Foundation for Future Cooperation
The record participation in 2026 suggests that the Australia Indonesia education relationship has entered a mature phase.
The scale is significant, but the composition of the programme may be even more important.
Scholarships, semester programmes and mobility grants create different pathways for students to engage with Indonesia. Universities provide academic infrastructure. Businesses provide professional experience. Civil society organisations offer community exposure.
Together, they create an ecosystem of exchange.
That ecosystem can support the wider bilateral relationship.
It can also help both countries understand each other’s strengths and limitations more realistically.
For Indonesia, the presence of Australian students provides opportunities to showcase its universities, businesses, communities and development programmes.
For Australia, Indonesia offers a close and complex regional environment in which students can develop skills that will be increasingly relevant to their careers.
Conclusion
Indonesia’s position as the most popular destination for Australian university students under the New Colombo Plan 2026 is more than a statistic about international education.
It is evidence of a relationship becoming deeper at the level where long-term partnerships are often built: among people.
More than 1,300 Australian students started NCP activities in Indonesia between January 2025 and June 30, 2026. The 2026 programme supported 29 scholarship recipients, 170 semester participants and 691 mobility grant recipients, while 26 Australian universities received funding for programmes in Indonesia during the 2025 and 2026 rounds.
The experience ranges from classrooms and laboratories to companies, community organisations and government institutions.
For Gita Kamath, this direct engagement is contributing to the development of the next generation of leaders between Australia and Indonesia.
The significance for Papua is more indirect but still worth watching. As Australia and Indonesia expand academic cooperation, there is room for future exchanges to reach more parts of eastern Indonesia, including Papua, particularly in areas such as sustainability, health, technology and inclusive development.
The strongest partnerships are usually built over time, not in a single diplomatic meeting.
They are built through repeated encounters, shared projects and relationships that survive long after a programme ends.
The New Colombo Plan is creating precisely that kind of connection.
For Australia and Indonesia, the real dividend of the programme may therefore emerge years from now, when today’s students become tomorrow’s researchers, entrepreneurs, public servants and community leaders, carrying with them a firsthand understanding of a neighbouring country that will remain central to both nations’ future.
Read Also
Australia and Indonesia Accelerate Indigenous Papuan Data in Papua
Makassar Sailors: Indonesia and Australia’s First Global Link
Papua is Positioned as Indonesia’s Pacific Gateway
