Australia Award Scholarship recipient James Zulfan visits Canberra

PhD Candidate James Zulfan recently completed a week-long program in Canberra, having received an invitation from the Australia Award Scholarship funded by DFAT Australia. The program aimed to introduce the Australian policy-making system, by connecting the scholars (G20 Scholarship recipients) with key personnel from the Australian government working across areas of Global Health Architecture, Sustainable Energy Transition, and Digital Transformation.

On the first day, the group went to a reception and met with Indonesian Ambassador Mr HE Siswo Pramono at the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra. They discussed the research program that will benefit the two countries, as James’ case study for his PhD is in Indonesia.

On the 2^nd day, James went to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to meet the Deputy Secretary Ms Michele Chan. He participated in a round table meeting and exchanged perspectives on the current issues in Australia and Indonesia. 

On the 3^rd day, James toured the Australian Parliament, visiting the House of Representatives to observe and learn how policy makers work in the parliament during “Question Time”. It was a big surprise that during the break, the Speaker of The House Mr Milton Dick announced their attendance to the room, and gave them a welcome, including PM Anthony Albanese. After hearing the session, they had another small chat with PM Anthony Albanese and Parliament member Mr Josh Wilson. James introduced his research topic at WRL for the next 4 years on the sustainable weir and energy transition.

Day 4 and 5, they attended a conference on Public Policy hosted by the Australian National University on the urgency of social and environmental public policy in Southeast Asia including Indonesia.

James said “it was a great experience and a good networking opportunity with experts and key people in the government that will benefit my research project.”