The Australia-China Council recently celebrated its 30-year anniversary and as the relationship between the two countries continues to evolve, so does the role of the Council writes Claire Roberts.

Thirty years ago, the Australian Government had the foresight to establish the Australia-China Council to broaden and deepen relations between Australia and China. Since then, the Council has undertaken many programs, principally in the cultural and education arenas, to develop and enhance people-to-people links and understanding between our two countries. 

The Council’s Australian Studies in China program has been a large and important part of our work since 1987-1988. Developed to better inform China’s future leaders and opinion-makers about aspects of Australian society, Australian Studies Centres (ASCs) in China have grown from an initial five to around 25 in Chinese tertiary institutions today. China alone accounts for more than half of the world’s ASCs and despite strong competition from other countries, the number of ASCs in China continues to grow.

Professor Wang Guofu was one of the key people involved in establishing the Australian Studies Association in China following a visit by Gough Whitlam (then ACC Chairman) in 1987. Wang’s interest in Australia began with his selection in 1979 as one of nine scholars to study in Australia for two years, the first such group to leave China for more than 30 years. They became known as the “Gang of Nine” in Australia and the “Australian Gang” in China. Professor Wang was instrumental in establishing the ASC at Suzhou University and has been active in promoting Australian studies in China ever since. Wang’s commitment to the promotion of Australian Studies in China is reflected in his translation and editorship of the Macquarie English-Chinese Bilingual Dictionary published in 1999 which provides Chinese speakers with access to Australian colloquial English, and was recognised through an ACC Award in October 2008. 

The Council has funded youth programs since 1988 and began funding secondary school exchanges to China in 1990. Most of the young Australians who have been recipients of ACC support have maintained their interest in China, and many now live there.

I myself first travelled to Beijing to study Chinese language as a privately funded student in 1978. A year later I was awarded a two-year scholarship from the ACC to pursue my studies at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Looking back on my life, the support from the ACC was transformational. I today work as a curator, writer and academic and have a strong interest in inter-cultural communication between Australia and China. 

Earlier this year, the Council undertook a strategic review and the Minister for Foreign Affairs approved a new mission (“Australia – China: Developing and strengthening mutual interests in a rapidly expanding relationship.”) and an expanded mandate that now covers:

·         Education and Science
·         Economics and Trade, and
·         Society and Culture.

Funding priorities have changed and there is a new emphasis on projects that focus on sustainability and the environment, health and safety, intercultural communication (including educational initiatives) and cultural heritage. Residencies to China are now offered under the Council’s grants program and the ACC continues to support exciting cultural projects that further our goals.

Underpinning this new direction is the Council’s decision to move towards building institutional linkages between Australia and China which will over time become self-sustaining and have longer term benefits. The aim is to facilitate exchanges in a number of priority fields that will, inter alia, bring Australian and Chinese professionals together to brainstorm solutions to mutual problems. These would form the basis of published issues papers that strengthen applications for research grant funding from bodies such as the Australian Research Council.

One of the challenges for the Council is to find initiatives to further the new economics and trade focus. The Council will sponsor a series of lectures, the first of which will be held at the Lowy Institute for International Policy in May. The ACC is also considering professional exchanges with appropriate partners and intends over the coming year to engage with business to see how the Council can best provide assistance in this area.

Under the review, the Council’s youth programs have been discontinued on the basis that facilitating study tours to China is considerably easier today than when the program was instigated in the late 1970’s. The Council is now focused on encouraging Chinese language learning in Australia and recently co-funded the Asia Education Foundation’s National Forum on the Future of Chinese Language Education in Australian Schools to endorse a nationally-agreed action plan.

Thirty years on, the Australia-China Council continues to play a vital role developing and strengthening the important bilateral relationship between Australia and China.

For more information: www.dfat.gov.au/acc/
*Dr Claire Roberts is the Deputy Chair of the Australia-China Council.