Australia Supports Future Leaders of the Asia-Pacific

MEDIA RELEASE

Released By:
THE HON STEPHEN SMITH MP, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND THE HON BOB MCMULLAN MP, PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE

We are pleased to announce the 2009 winners of the prestigious Allison Sudradjat Award.

These awards honour the memory of Allison Sudradjat, the former head of the Australian aid program in Indonesia and senior representative in Papua New Guinea, whose life was tragically cut short in a plane crash in Indonesia on 7 March 2007.

Six scholars, two from PNG and four from Indonesia, are receiving awards.

They were chosen from among the highest-ranked recipients of the Australian Leadership Awards (ALA) Scholarships, which offer post graduate scholarships at Australian universities to outstanding individuals.

They will undertake Masters or PhD level courses in a range of areas including health, climate change, business administration and law and justice. They will also receive additional funding for research or a professional work placement.

This week, the six award winners joined more than 150 ALA Scholars at the 2009 Leadership Development Conference in Canberra. The Conference aims to increase their leadership skills and enhance their understanding of development challenges at a national, regional and global level.

This unique leadership program is only offered to ALA Scholarships recipients, and is in addition to the scholarship award.

The Government will provide more than $5 million in the fourth round of the ALA Fellowships program for a range of Australian organisations to host 252 Fellows from 22 countries across the region.

Fellows are current and future leaders in their fields. The ALA Fellowships program allows them access to new ideas and expertise in a range of development areas including health, education, climate change, infrastructure and resource management, security and governance.

The ALA Scholarships and Fellowships are funded through the Australian Agency for International Development, AusAID. Further information can be found at
www.ausaid.gov.au/scholar/Pages/default.aspx.

Photos of the Allison Sudradjat awardees can be downloaded at:
www.ausaid.gov.au/media/gallery/scholarships.cfm

Note: below is a summary of ALA scholarships for 2009.

Media Contacts:

Sabina Curatolo (Mr McMullan's Office) 0400 318 205

Andrew Dempster (Mr Smith's Office) 0407 435 157

AusAID Public Affairs 0417 680 590

Summary of 2009 Allison Sudradjat Awardees

Australian Leadership Awards - Fellowships

Successful Australian Host Organisations

• Australian Red Cross & the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations
• Australian Fisheries Management Authority
• Australian Maritime College, University of Tasmania
• Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government
• International Water Centre
• Landgate, The Western Australian Land Information Authority
• Planning Institute of Australia
• Queensland University of Technology
• RMIT University
• The Australian International Health Institute (University of Melbourne) Ltd
• The Children's Hospital at Westmead
• Tropical North Queensland Institute of TAFE
• The University of New England
• The University of Sydney
• University of Technology Sydney - World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Development

ALA Fellows by country