Purpose: In an era of internationalism, higher education and vocational training have been core to Australia's nation-building, regional co-operation and public diplomacy. This essay examines what has become of the people-to-people aspect of Australia's engagements in the Indo-Pacific region, as discussed in the Australian government's influential…

Scholars have confirmed the diplomacy value and soft power influence of international alumni (IA), but the relationship between IA and knowledge diplomacy (KD) is under-researched. Meanwhile, there needs to be a change from the soft power framework to the knowledge diplomacy framework in international higher education studies to emphasise…

Purpose: This paper draws on two studies from a wider research program exploring the long-term graduate outcomes of Australia's international development scholarships, the Australia Awards. The paper's focus is on exploring how soft power can be identified through international scholarships and outlines conditions for success in achieving such…

The COVID pandemic has had dramatic effects on higher education worldwide, but the impact has been very uneven. The gap between rich and poor has widened further, aid to education has been cut, and abrupt changes introduced to pedagogy, international student and staff mobility, research laboratories, and institutional bottom lines. Anglophone…

The Australian Government's Endeavour international scholarship program had strategic interests in international education at its core, but uneven and strategically incompatible outcomes emerged over the 16 years of its existence. An unexpected outcome was the dominance of the small Himalayan nation of Bhutan as a substantial beneficiary of the…

In 2014, the Australian Government introduced the New Colombo Plan (NCP), whereby undergraduate students would become 'informal ambassadors' enhancing Australia's 'soft power' within the Asia-Pacific region. Participation by students, universities, host organisations and communities expanded rapidly before Australia's pandemic-driven closure of…

The Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Act 2018 (FITS Act) requires persons or entities, including universities, who engage with the Australian political landscape on behalf of a foreign principal, to register under the scheme. The High Court of Australia's recent decision in LibertyWorks Inc v Commonwealth of Australia [2021] HCA 18 may cause…

Purpose: The article examines the ways in which professional associations representing those working in international education are able to shape national systems and thereby change the ways in which the country engages internationally. This is particularly significant for Australia, which has one of the world's most internationalised higher…

Purpose: The Australian Government has long used its international scholarship programs as an instrument of soft power in international diplomacy. The paper examines an international scholarship program and its role in Australia's soft power efforts during a period in recent history. Design/methodology/approach: The Australia in the Asian Century…

This paper analyses the international financing of higher education, an important yet understudied facet of contemporary policy and practice. The paper takes the globally significant China-Australia relationship as a case study. This paper argues that analysing the international political economy of the China-Australia case better illuminates the…

Preservice teachers are soon-to-be graduates expected to deliver the Cross-Curricular Priority 'Asia and Australia's Engagement with Asia'. Teachers of all learning areas are expected to teach about Asia, irrespective of their knowledge or capabilities in Asian contexts. The curriculum review has revised expectations for 'Asia literacy' in…

This article uses new survey data to examine student preferences and experiences with active learning among a graduate student cohort across two key identity markers: international student status and gender. Our survey of students enrolled in a Master of International Relations program suggests that most view active learning favorably and believe…

The 2014 national curriculum of Australia is a significant initiative that the Australian government has taken in proposing a curriculum that stresses Australia's engagement with Asia. In practice, this means that Asian cultures, beliefs, environments and the connections between Australia and Asia are embedded in the learning processes of…

Introduced in 2014, the New Colombo Plan (NCP) represents the Australian government's signature initiative of student mobility and public diplomacy. The programme aims to expose Australian undergraduate students to the Indo-Pacific. This article focuses on analysing Australian students' experiences in Asia via the NCP. The article draws on a…

There is an identifiable gap between Australian government policy aspiration and curriculum guidance found in the content of the renewed Australian Curriculum (2018) that has been designed to support the cross-curriculum priority (CCP) of "Asia and Australia's engagement with Asia." We have employed an inductive, interpretative research…