Speakers

Prof. Dr. Dewi Fortuna Anwar, M.A.

Prof. Dr. Dewi Fortuna Anwar is currently Deputy Secretary for Political Affairs to the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia. She is also a Research Professor and held the position of the Deputy Chairman for Social Sciences and Humanities at The Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) from 2001-2010. She is also the Chair of the Institute for Democracy and Human Rights at The Habibie Center, and a member of the Board of Advisors, The Institute for Peace and Democracy, The Bali Democracy Forum. Dewi Anwar briefly held the position of Assistant to the Vice President for Global Affairs (May-July 1998) and that of Assistant Minister/State Secretary for Foreign Affairs (August 1998-November 1999), during the Habibie administration.

Prof. Anwar was a member of the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters (2008-2012), a member of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission (WMDC), based in Stockholm, and a member of the International Advisory Board of the Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy, ANU, Australia. She obtained her PhD from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, while her BA (Hons) and MA were obtained from SOAS, University of London.

Professor Tim Lindsey

Professor Tim Lindsey is Malcolm Smith Professor of Asian Law and founding Director of the Centre for Islamic Law and Society at the University of Melbourne. He is also chair of the Australia-Indonesia Institute, an advisory board within the DFAT and was a member of the Reference Group for the National Asian Languages and Studies in School Program. In 2006, Tim received a Carrick Teaching Awards Citation for his work with international students and in 2007 the Malcolm Smith Award for Excellence in Teaching.

A founding editor of The Australian Journal of Asian Law, he has written extensively on Indonesia. His publications include include Indonesia: Law and Society; Corruption in Asia: Rethinking the Governance Paradigm; Chinese Indonesians: Remembering, Distorting, Forgetting; and Law Reform in Developing and Transitional States. In 2012, he published a three volume series Islam, Law and the State in Southeast Asia (I: Indonesia, II: Singapore; III: Malaysia and Brunei), and The Indonesian Constitution: A Contextual Analysis.

Ms Prodita Sabarini

Prodita Sabarini is a Jakarta-based journalist with an interest in Human Rights issues. She is currently the editor of The Conversation, Jakarta. Prior to this role, she worked as an investigative reporter for the English daily newspaper, The Jakarta Post. Her work has also been featured in The Australian, New Matilda, and broadcast on Sydney’s 2SER. Prodita has covered a range of critical issues, including the Sunni and Shia conflict in Sampang, Madura, the tension between mining companies and local communities in East Kalimantan, the political dynamics in the province of Papua, and more.

Prodita’s experience in reporting human rights issues has landed her the title as the 2013-2014 Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow. The fellowship by the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) is a program dedicated to “promoting international understanding of human rights and social justice while creating an opportunity for women journalists to build their skills.” As the Elizabeth Neuffer fellow, she has been an associate researcher at MIT’s Center for International Studies. She also attended classes in Harvard and MIT to study the root causes of religious intolerance and violence. Part of her fellowship also saw her contribute to The Boston Globe and The New York Times.

Prodita is a Media Studies graduate from Padjadjaran University, Bandung. She continued her studies in 2011 when she received an Australian Development scholarship to study a Master’s degree in Human Rights Law and Policy at the University of New South Wales.

Ms Helen Brown

Helen Brown is a multi-media professional with 20 years experience in news and features coverage who arrived in Jakarta late in 2011 and fortuitously found herself in one of the most story-rich countries in the region. A journalist with Australia’s national broadcaster the ABC, her stories are seen in Australia, and on the Australia Network channel in Asia.

Her role has taken her to the regions and detention centres that are home to asylum seekers, into Aceh where women are making a difference, reporting on the 2013 diplomatic breakdown over spying, and reporting on stories that matter to Indonesians about corruption, politics and society, and their democratic transition. She’s interviewed the Indonesian Finance, Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministers, and the leaders of large corporations such as Astra, and media group MNC.

She is a past secretary of the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club and a member of Soroptomists Jakarta. In 2013, she and an Indonesian journalist friend formed WartaTalk, an informal support group to bring expat and Indonesian reporters and producers together.

Mr Terry Mills

With 15 years parliamentary and ministerial experience, Terry Mills has had an even longer involvement with the Australian-Indonesian dialogue as a teacher and school principal – an involvement that started over 30 years ago in Perth as an English language teacher and consultant.

Terry moved to Darwin in 1989 to become the first principal of a new private school. This move was prompted by a desire to be part of Northern Territory’s leading role in Australia/Indonesia engagement at the time.

Terry established Bahasa Indonesia as a core subject at his school and developed a long-term teacher and student exchange program between his school and schools in Nusa Tengara Timur.  With a specific focus on Indonesia’s Eastern Provinces and Timor Leste, Terry has actively supported a range of sporting, cultural, civic and business programmes over the years.

Originally a Western Australian farmer, Terry also has a particular interest in Indonesian food security and regional cooperation for mutual benefit.