The University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute came into being in the late 1990s—a time when the ‘Asian Century’ was entering media and policy discourse following decades of the rise of the Asian economic ‘tigers’. Australia had also recently begun an era described by the Institute’s first director, the late high-profile American historian Merle Ricklefs, as ‘painful and embarrassing’[1] – the election of independent MP Pauline Hanson to federal parliament in 1996 on an anti-Asian immigration platform.
That year the newly-elected Government of then Prime Minister John Howard released its policy on foreign affairs and trade focusing on the need to forge close relationships with “the United States, Japan, Indonesia and China”, and towards the end mentioning Australia’s “research expertise in Asian Studies” and “attracting more students from abroad”, despite simultaneously cutting university funding. Despite this, universities were beginning several decades of growth, a situation significantly influenced by a policy change the mid-1980s which opened Australian university places to fee-paying international students.
It was in this context that in 1997, the then Vice Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, Alan Gilbert, decided that Asian languages and societies needed to have “more visible focus and prominence”. It didn’t take long for the Melbourne Institute for Asian Languages and Societies (MIALS, pronounced ‘miles’) to come into being on February 1, 1998, aiming to “enhance the reputation of the capacity of the University of Melbourne in these fields of Asian languages and societies”; although Gilbert’s 1997-2001 strategic plan spoke only of “encouraging the study of languages other than English” whereas his predecessor David Penington’s strategic plans had stressed a major review of the University’s Asian languages and studies.
MIALS was not the first of its kind: the Australian National University, Monash University, Griffith University and Murdoch University all had Asia-related centres. MIALS was led by Ricklefs, after initially being steered by interim director Boris Schedvin. Former Deputy Director of MIALS and Professor of Chinese Studies, Anne McLaren, recalls that around the time of MIALS’ formation the University of Melbourne was regarded as very Anglophile. “There were long-standing Asian language programs, but beyond that not much on Asia was taught. There were very few employees who came from Asia and only a small number of international students from Asia”, said McLaren.
MIALS began teaching Arabic, Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese; as well as teaching and research on Asian societies, politics, and histories. From the early 2000s it was located, along with Asialink, in the prominent Sidney Myer Asia Centre, one of Melbourne’s architecturally notable buildings which includes a sculpture by Japanese Australian artist Akio Makigawa on its Swanston St exterior. The building was officially opened in 2002 by then foreign Minister, Alexander Downer[2]. Shortly after the move into its permanent home, MIALS was absorbed into the Arts Faculty as a Department and Ricklefs resigned. Michael Leigh, who was deputy director and Professor of Contemporary Asia, took over as Director.
Among the most notable of MIALS’ work around this time came in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami which devastated the Indonesian province of Aceh. The Aceh Research Training Institute, led by MIALS, was a consortium of eight Australian and four Indonesian universities which supported the rebuilding of local capacity.
By 2006, it had become evident to Leigh that MIALS needed a name change so ‘Asia’ could be better highlighted. He recalls that “one of the Deans from whom I sought advice asked me ‘what is MIALS, and how far does it go?’” It was initially proposed that the name to be changed to Asia Institute Melbourne (AIM), but that was rejected on the basis of being too close to a well-known brand of toothpaste. MIALS was officially renamed the Asia Institute and launched on February 22, 2006.
25 years later, there’s a far greater depth and breadth in the Asia Institute’s teaching, including Korean Studies, Asian Studies, the Centre for the Study of Islamic studies, the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies, subjects on South Asia, a Masters of Translation and Interpreting and a Masters of Contemporary Chinese Studies. The Asia Institute is one of the few university-level schools in Australia that teaches and researches many aspects of Asian societies as well as languages. This is significant because, as the current Director, Vedi Hadiz, argues, “the national interest is being undermined by the erosion, Australia-wide, of specialist high level research programs on key Asian societies, especially China. The result is that business is being conducted without the necessary expertise and people in government do not have the necessary background, even increasingly in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.”
The Asia Institute also plays an increasing role in enabling international students to feel part of the University community. There are approximately 20,000 international students at the University of Melbourne, who make up almost half its student population and who are almost entirely from Asian nations. For many, the Asia Institute is a place where their own multicultural experiences take place, as they encounter students from other Asian countries. It’s also where they further develop critical thinking skills. Rafiqa Qurrata A’yun, a Law School PhD student from Indonesia recalls that during a recent Asia Institute-hosted event for a visiting Indonesian politician, “every student had an opportunity to express their independent views and challenge high-profile individuals.”
However, fewer Australian students are learning Asian languages precisely at the point when Australia’s future is tied to Asia more than ever before. Figures from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) show that in 2022 only 8.2 percent of Year 12 students were enrolled in a language. Further, between 2010 and 2022 the numbers of Year 12 students studying Japanese, Chinese, Indonesian and Vietnamese have all fallen.
The peak of federal government investment in Asia languages was between 1995-2002 via the National Asian Languages/Studies in Australian Schools (NALSAS) Strategy. Since then the situation has largely been one of decline. China specialist, Anne McLaren, says there is a “system-wide crisis in the training of advanced Chinese skills in language, analysis, and research across the nation”.
Australia’s approach to Asian studies and languages is paradoxical. Governments continually emphasise the need for better economic and security ties with Asia, but don’t properly invest in the skills to make a difference. International education is Australia’s third biggest export, after iron ore and coal, but the current federal government is capping numbers of international students.
The Asia Institute’s proud outward-facing and forward-thinking history is a key element of Australia’s future and part of the antidote to insularity and narrow-mindedness.
[1] Professor Merle Ricklefs, ‘Manson, Hanson and the New Tribalism’, The Inaugural Professorial Lecture, Melbourne Institute of Asian Languages and Societies, 1999, p.1
[2] Asialink statement on the Sidney Myer Asia Centre, Jenny McGregor, Executive Director
Main image: (L-R) Sami Shah (host) , Associate Professor Delia Lin, Professor Vedi Hadiz, Honorary Professor Anne McLaren and Dr David Tittensor, AI anniversary event, the University of Melbourne, August 22, 2024. Image used with the permission of Evan Mery and the University of Melbourne.
