Australian delegates

Cameron Grant

GRANT_Cameron_full_sizeCameron Grant is a Lawyer at Corrs Chambers Westgarth, seconded as International Counsel to Soemadipradja & Taher since April 2015. Cameron has broad international experience, having completed secondments as a Foreign Legal Trainee at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune in Tokyo, and having worked at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague.

In Australia, Cameron has gained considerable experience in litigation in federal and state jurisdictions and in large international arbitrations. In Indonesia, Cameron frequently assists foreign clients from the energy, education, hospitality, manufacturing, mining and not-for-profit sectors with investing, and managing operations, in Indonesia. Cameron also regularly publishes articles on Indonesian legal developments.

Cameron benefits from Indonesian language and cultural training, including a DipLang (Indon) and the DFAT-sponsored Australia Indonesia Youth Exchange Program. Cameron has a BA and LLB (Hons) and is a member of the Indonesian Australia Business Council, International Bar Association and Law Institute of Victoria.

Rebecca Gregory

Rebecca GregoryRebecca (@RebeccaEGregory) started learning Indonesian when she was 12, and made her first visit to Indonesia when she was 14. Since then she has visited Indonesia many times and enjoyed learning about the country and meeting new people. Now she teaches Indonesian! She really enjoys working with young people and encouraging them to discover a love for languages and different cultures and countries.

She has lived in Malaysia and Poland and travelled to many countries throughout South-East Asia and Europe, as well as a trek in Nepal and a couple of visits to the USA. She has dabbled in learning a number foreign languages but the only one in which she can hold a conversation is Indonesian. Other than work, she likes to run, do yoga, visit Melbourne’s many cafes and hang out with her handsome husband and super cute dog.

Thomas James Harvey

T.Harvey - profile pictureTom (@KremBule) is an international development practitioner working in the climate change sector. Tom has an extensive personal and professional background with the Indonesia and Australia bilateral partnership. Originally hailing from Melbourne, Tom has been living in Jakarta for the past four years and was previously based in Canberra working for the Australian Government’s former Department of Climate Change.

He is currently working for the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Bogor, where he manages a climate change partnership with the Indonesian and Australian Governments. He was a participant in the Australia-Indonesia Youth Exchange Program (AIYEP) in 2008-09, where a lived in a small village on the side of Gunung Semeru in East Java.

Sally Hill

Sally HillSally has spent the last eleven years traveling between Australia and Indonesia for work, study and pleasure. She holds Bachelors of Laws/International Relations/Asian Studies (Hons) and two diplomas of languages in Indonesian and Arabic.

During her most recent stay in Indonesia as a recipient of the Australian Prime Minister’s Endeavour Award, she conducted research at Universitas Gadjah Mada, held the role of First Secretary to the Indonesian Ambassador to the WTO at the Ninth Ministerial Conference, provided executive advice and training to staff at the Centre for World Trade Studies, and won first place at the International Malay Speaking Competition: Prime Minister’s Cup (PABM).

As a co-founding director of AIYA and founder of the National Australia Indonesia Language Awards, Sally is passionate about strengthening the bilateral relationship through communication.

Currently, Sally works at Minter Ellison where she is completing practical legal training to become admitted as an Australian lawyer.

Michelle Kovacevic

michelleMichelle Kovacevic (@kovamic) is an experienced communicator, science journalist, project manager and facilitator working at the nexus of agriculture, forestry and rural livelihoods. Having studied Indonesian language and culture since she was in high school, in 2011, Michelle relocated to Bogor, Indonesia as the youngest staff member to work at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). She founded the institute’s blog and social media channels, which quickly became leading examples in the international development sector.

While in Indonesia, Michelle also pioneered a global initiative to get young forestry and agriculture professionals effectively engaged in international conferences on land use. This December, Michelle will be leading a delegation of 50 youth from across Africa, Asia and Latin America to create solutions to global land use challenges using leadership development and collaborative problem solving skills at Paris’ UN climate change conference. She also coordinates a mentoring program for the Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD).

Michelle has published over 100 articles and organized and run dozens of workshops to train policymakers, journalists and teachers science communication and social media skills. She holds a first class honours degree in neuroscience and diploma in Indonesian language from the University of Melbourne and is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Shapers community. Her full portfolio can be found at www.michellekovacevic.com.

Sinead Maguire

Sinead MaguireSinead Maguire (@shinmaguire) is a Social Media Communications Consultant at the World Bank Office in Jakarta. She is a project associate on a randomised control research trial that assess the extent to which social media communication channels can be leveraged to improve uptake of public health programs in Indonesia. In this role, Sinead works closely with influential Indonesians and government personnel that have particular influence in social media. Prior to the World Bank, Sinead managed Joko Widodo’s Facebook page during the Presidential campaign.

Since majoring in Indonesian Studies at the University of Sydney, Sinead has always had a strong interest in the bilateral relationship, spending a semester studying at the University of Gadjah Mada in 2012. She happily lives in Jakarta, enjoying the opportunity to reconnect with family and friends and continue to develop her language skills.

Lisa Martin

Lisa MartinLisa Martin (@lmarti) is a political reporter with Australian Associated Press and has been based in the Press Gallery at Parliament House Canberra for four years, after previous stints in Brisbane and Sydney bureaus.

Her work has been highly commended in the Wallace Brown-National Press Club Award for young gallery reporters and AAP Newswire Awards.

Lisa has a keen interest in Asia, international relations and speaks Bahasa Indonesia fairly fluently.
She was selected for the Indonesian Foreign Ministry’s journalists visits program in June.
Lisa was awarded an Asia Pacific Journalism Centre fellowship to travel to China last year and has also had overseas assignments to Cambodia and New Caledonia.

During her final year studying journalism at RMIT, Lisa participated in the 2008 ACICIS Journalism Practicum Program in Jakarta which involved study at Atma Jaya University and an internship with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Jakarta Bureau. She researched talent and information for an ABC TV Foreign Correspondent documentary on Jakarta’s flooding and sinking problems.

Paul Mead

Paul Mead.jpgPaul Mead (@paulmead01) has had, to date, a unique strategic business, government, teaching and sport journey. Paul served 11 years with the NZ Army, representing government interests in some of the most volatile places in the world, assisting developing nations through NZ and US AID Projects.

Paul’s experience in the Northern Territory has led him into the sports industry as a respected consultant. Paul has been involved in significant projects in the NT sports industry including the development of the $4M NT Government Sport Voucher Scheme, the construction and business development of the $4M Darwin Squash Centre and the establishment of Pedals NT through a $0.5M NT Government contribution over three years.

Paul’s passion is as an educator, innovator and leader in the sports industry. His vision is to see sport used as a social and cultural enabler for diplomatic, trade and international relationship building, particularly between the Northern Territory and Asia.

Murray O’Hanlon

imageMurray (@mjkrtlf) is First Secretary (Development) at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, with responsibility for development policy and coordination. Since moving to Jakarta in 2014, Murray has had a focus on technical support to Indonesia’s education quality agenda for public and Islamic schools.

Murray has managed education cooperation for the DFAT Afghanistan program, contributed to humanitarian assistance and post-conflict development policy and programs in Central Asia (including with OSCE, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe), and supported the Australian Government’s emergency responses to Typhoon Haiyan and the humanitarian crisis in East Africa.

Originally from Kempsey in rural New South Wales, Murray has a double major in Economics and Indonesian Studies from UNSW, where he studied under leading Indonesian experts and linguists including Suzanne Piper, David Reeve, Robyn Fallick and Rochayah Machali. He graduated with honours in 2006 after completing the ACICIS program in Malang, East Java. Murray is passionate about education, inter-faith relations, music and motorcycles.

Wayan Jarrah Sastrawan

sastrawan_photoWayan Jarrah Sastrawan (@infiniteteeth) is a Balinese-Australian who attended primary school in Bali and has lived in Sydney since. He has a Bachelor of Liberal Studies with majors in English and Sanskrit, as well as Honours and Masters degrees in physics. He has written commentary on Indonesian politics for New Matilda. His research interests include the traditional historiography of Southeast Asia, as well as the 20th century history, modern literature and regional popular music of Indonesia.

Jarrah is this year’s University of Sydney delegate.

Heather Reed

Heather Reed Corp2 copyHeather Reed is Marketing Manager Australia and New Zealand for Telstra. With 8 years experience at Telstra, she manages the overall marketing portfolio for Australian based organisations operating or expanding in to Asia, EMEA and the Americas. Heather has recently completed an 8 month secondment based in Jakarta as the Go To Market Lead, supporting in the setup of telkomtelstra; a joint venture between Telkom Indonesia and Telstra. As part of the implementation team, Heather led marketing strategy and planning, operations, policies and governance and was instrumental in building the local team. The entity was successfully launched on May 13 2015 to customers, analysts and the media and Heather maintains an ongoing relationship with telkomtelstra’s team in Indonesia.

Prior to joining the global team, Heather held a number of roles in Telstra, working in Telstra Consumer, Business Sales, and most recently was a Senior Marketing Specialist within Telstra Enterprise & Government working on lead generation, project management and development of the customer case study and white paper program. Previous to Telstra, Heather also held roles at KAZ Pty Ltd within the Marketing and Communications team and in Marketing Operations and Planning at Deloitte Touche Tomatsu.

Heather holds a Bachelor of Business Degree from the University of Technology Sydney and majored in Marketing and Management.

Ben Simmonds

Ben SimmondsBen has worked in the field of law-enforcement for the past decade, in this time he has held positions in the Solomon Islands and around Australia. He also studied at the University of Mataram in Lombok, Indonesia, and undertook an internship at the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation (JCLEC) in Semarang, Indonesia. In 2008 – 2009 he participated in the Australian-Indonesian Youth Exchange Program (AIYEP).

Ben developed a passion for language and culture through his exposures in the Solomon Islands. This in turn, led him to Indonesia, where he undertook a BA in International Studies. In this course, he successfully major in Indonesian language and cultural studies and participated in a language and cultural immersion program at the University of Padang in West Sumatra.

Ben will undertake a Master in Applied Learning and Teaching in 2016, where he will endeavor to continue as well as transfer this passion onto others through teaching streams. He enjoys travelling and outdoor activities especially spending time at the local beach just kicking back with my St Bernard.

Cosimo Thawley

ThawleyCosimo is a diplomat at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. As part of the political section since 2013, he has covered many issues of common concern facing Indonesia and Australia. These include the Snowden intelligence allegations, people smuggling and South China Sea.

Prior to his time in Indonesia, Cosimo was a policy graduate at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra and an associate for the United States Senate Finance Committee in Washington D.C. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and History with highest honours from Pomona College in Claremont, California. He was born in the Bush Capital.

Emma Vickers

EmmaEmma has regularly travelled to Indonesia from a young age, witnessing first-hand the incredible political and social change of the past three decades.

Emma’s academic studies have been largely focused on Indonesia. Emma completed her Bachelor of International Studies (Global Studies and Indonesian Studies) at the University of New South Wales, where she studied International Relations and Politics at Gadjah Mada University as a member of ACICIS. She went on to complete a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) at the Australian National University and was awarded First Class Honours for her thesis on the relationship between local governments, the national government and foreign mining companies in Indonesia. In 2013, Emma completed her Masters of National Security Policy at the Australian National University.

Since university, Emma has worked in the Australian Public Service in international and policy roles focusing on the Middle East, United States, Southwest Pacific and Indonesia.

Zachary Wone

Zac Wone-2Zachary has experience across a wide array of organisations in diverse cultural settings. After completing a Bachelor of Legal and Justice Studies at Southern Cross University, he assisted in organising a youth summit in Vanuatu as part of Voice Australia’s Indigenous Youth Leadership Program.

Previous to his current role as a community organiser with Sydney Alliance, Zac worked with AusAID, having been accepted into their 2012 Australian Public Service Graduate program, including a short term posting in Papua New Guinea, and served as the Chair of AusAID’s Indigenous Employees Network for two years.

Zachary currently holds a number of leadership roles across various organisations, notably as the West Sydney Delegate for the new Australian South Sea Islander NSW State Representative Body Working group and as Events Director of the NSW Australia Indonesia Youth Association.