Australia-Indonesia Attitudes Impact Study – Historical.pdf

The ‘Australia-Indonesia Attitudes Impact Study – Historical’ was conducted by Dr. Agnieszka Sobocinska of the National Centre for Australian Studies at Monash University.

The study, funded by the Australia-Indonesia Centre, analysed data from the 1940s until the present day to determine trends in Australian attitudes towards Indonesia, and the extent to which they affect bilateral relations.

It combines over six decades of polling data with qualitative research from the humanities and social sciences, analysis of theoretical literature examining the impact of public opinion on foreign policy, as well as interviews with key figures from government, academia and policy thinktanks.

What resulted is a holistic analysis of what Australians think about Indonesia, why they hold these attitudes, and how popular perceptions are politically significant in Australian-Indonesian relations.

The study was published in November 2015 and Dr Sobocinska presented the findings at the Australia-Indonesia Attitudes Seminar, hosted by Monash University in May 2016.