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Seventeen sensational students from The Australian National 51�Թ��� (ANU) will jet off to the Indo-Pacific to live, study and intern in the region after receiving scholarships for 2025. 

It’s the largest cohort of students the 51�Թ��� has ever had in a single scholarship round since the program’s inception in 2014. The ANU students will be based in Singapore, South Korea, Nepal, Indonesia, Japan, Vanuatu, Fiji, and China, immersing themselves in the local culture with the aim of developing life-long connections. 

Law and arts student Rosie Bendo is determined to “break the Australia bubble” by heading off to Indonesia and Timor-Leste with the goal of brushing up on her Indonesian language skills. 

She’s excited by the prospect of strengthening her intercultural skills and becoming bilingual. 

“It's been a goal of mine to be a part of this [New Colombo Plan] network and contribute to better Australia—Indonesia relationships going into the future,” Bendo says. 

“While I will learn about the overlap between law and culture in the human rights context, I'll be sharpening my language skills in Bahasa Indonesia and learning Tetum.” 

Indonesia is one of Australia’s most important bilateral relationships. In 2024, the two nations celebrated 75 years of diplomatic relations. 

“I'll be undertaking internships in Indonesian government departments and NGOs. I know that the New Colombo plan scholarship will take me in the direction I want to go, but I'm not quite sure yet what those next steps will look like,” Bendo admits. 

Committed to viewing Australian national security through a diverse cultural and linguistic lens, Lourdes Bernadette will study international relations in Indonesia, followed by a semester of Hindi language training in India. 

She hopes to broaden her understanding of the security landscape with the goal of “bringing fresh perspectives to the table and decolonising the historically white male dominated field”. 

“The diverse identities I had growing up as Chinese Indonesian means that I want to immerse myself and embrace the cultural diversity in Indonesia and India because I know how important it is to listen to marginalised voices,” Bernadette says. 

“I look forward to a career in national security and with the NCP I can improve my Asian literacy and deepen my cultural and linguistic understanding, along with my life experiences.” 

Elijah Hughes is passionate about boosting cooperation between Australia and Indo-Pacific countries to tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges, such as climate change. He will head to Seoul, South Korea to deepen his understanding of green finance. 

While Hughes, a Bachelor of Economics student, has his sights set on making long-lasting connections with students and professors who are “at the top of their field”, the opportunity to live in one of the world’s most vibrant cities and chow down on Korean speciality dishes such as tteokbokki, japche and hotteok isn’t lost on him. 

“I think I’m most excited about and enthusiastic about the South Korean cuisine because it is really good, and I would love to be able to come back to Australia with some of that knowledge,” Hughes says. 

“The scholarship will really jumpstart my professional and academic development. I would love to make original contributions in the research area, particularly within green finance, and I think this scholarship will really enable me to have the skills to do so upon my return to Australia.” 

The NCP program, which was founded by former Australian Foreign Affairs Minister and current ANU Chancellor, the Hon Julie Bishop, supports a diverse group of Australian undergraduate students to immerse themselves in the Indo-Pacific region with the goal of building lasting relationships with our closest neighbours. Each scholarship is valued up to $107,000. 

The ANU winners are among 219 Australian undergraduate students from 33 universities across the country to receive NCP scholarships for 2025.  

As part of strengthening Australia’s Indo-Pacific relationships, as well as strengthening the country’s capability in Asian languages, the federal government has announced its commitment to double the number of NCP scholarships awarded over time. 

As a result, more scholars will head to the region to learn Mandarin, Japanese, Malay, Indonesian, Korean, Cantonese, Hindi, Thai and Vietnamese, among others. The 2025 NCP round has seen a 46 per cent increase in the number of Australian students to receive scholarships compared to the 2024 round.