The Hon Tim Watts MP

CAUSINDY is delighted to have the Hon Tim Watts MP as a keynote speaker at this year conference.

As an alumnus of CAUSINDY 2016, Tim Watts has contributed much to the organisation through advocating for a more significant role for young professionals in  Australia-Indonesia partnerships. Back in CAUSINDY 2017 in Melbourne, he also participated in the EFL session and networking night.

“CAUSINDY is a great community for networking,” he mentioned while reminiscing about the networks he cultivated as a result of joining the conference. “The alumni network is really strong.”

Ferry Sabam Samosir

Ferry Sabam Samosir has extensive experience in tourism, agriculture and public policy. His main key skills are tourism destination management, sustainable tourism destination frameworks, public administration, inclusive system development and project result measurement. He is currently involved as an Auditor Team Member of sustainable tourist destination certification for several organisations such as the Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation Nusa Dua.

Ferry began his career working for a transmigration resettlement project before continuing to a cash crops plantation. Then he switched to non-for-profits when he worked for Care International Indonesia through a silk value chain project in 2002 in West Java. Later, he worked for disaster management responses in West Aceh and Nias. In 2009, he was assigned by Swisscontact as Manager for a Rural Economic Activity Development project in Aceh Tamiang.

Hendrie Adji Kusworo

Hendrie Adji Kusworo PhD is an experienced lecturer and researcher with a demonstrated history of working in higher education and community development. His main interests are in social development, tourism and institutional entrepreneurship. Adji teaches undergraduate, Master and doctorate degrees programs at the Department of Social Development and Welfare, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University Gajah Mada. He also teaches Master and doctorate degrees in tourism studies at the Graduate School of UGM. He currently serves as the director of the doctoral program in tourism studies at UGM.

He is the founder of Jogja Tourism Training Centre and Sepeda Kampus, and actively participates in national and international organisations such as the Association of Indonesian Social Development, the International Consortium for Social Development, the Indonesia Sustainable Tourism Council and the International Association of Universities of the Third Age.

Adji received his PhD from Groningen University, his Master’s degree in leisure, tourism and environment from Wageningen University, and his Bachelor degree in social development from the University of Gadjah Mada.

Jewel Topsfield

Jewel Topsfield is the social affairs editor at The Age, a news website and newspaper based in Melbourne with 5.8 million readers. She was formerly the Indonesia correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Jewel has won multiple awards, including a Walkley for international journalism and the $20,000 Lowy Institute Media Award, which recognises journalists who have deepened and enriched the discussion of global issues in Australia. In 2019 Jewel was the Academic Program Officer for the ACICIS journalism professional practicum, where journalism students from Australian universities study and undertake an internship in Indonesia.

Adi Septiawan

Adi Septiawan is a sustainability enthusiast and an avid digital marketer with professional experience spanning multinational companies, non-profit organisations and hospitality businesses. He currently works as a strategic marketing professional for Mana Earthly Paradise, an award winning next-generation villa in the heart of Ubud, and also works as a communication consultant for ready-to-bloom social enterprises in Indonesia.

I Putu Wiraguna

Wira is a young Balinese impact entrepreneur. He has a strong passion to create new opportunities in rural areas and develop responsible projects in villages. He co-founded Five Pillar Foundation in 2015 focusing on rural community development, co-founded Sun Sang Eco Village in 2017 focusing on a responsible investment project, and founded Five Pillar Experiences in 2018 focusing on sustainable tourism initiatives and impact travel providers.

Since then, Wira has developed Five Pillar’s integrated assets-based approach to community development and actively involves himself in understanding the needs and challenges of local rural communities. He currently works with rural communities to create community-based tourism experiences that raise awareness of the importance of the role that rural communities play in protecting nature and culture in Bali.

Joseph Cheer

Joseph is Professor of Sustainable Tourism and Heritage, School of Social Sciences, Western Sydney University. He was formerly Professor of Sustainable Tourism, Center for Tourism Research, Wakayama University, Japan.

Joseph is presently co-Editor-in-Chief of the scientific journal Tourism Geographies, one of the leading scientific journals focused on tourism. He is a co-Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Future Council on the future of sustainable tourism and a Board Member of the Pacific Asia Travel Association, the region’s leading tourism industry group.

Budy Resosudarmo

Professor Budy Resosudarmo is a developmental and environmental economist working on the economy-wide impact of economic and environmental policies on local economies, household incomes, human development and the environment, and also analysing the political economy of environmental policies and natural resource utilisation.

He is an Associate Professor and Deputy Head of the Indonesia Project at the Arndt-Corden Department of Economics, Crawford School of Economics and Government, ANU. Budy is currently the president of the Asian Association of Environmental and Resource Economics, a Fellow of the Regional Science Association International, a member of the Advisory Committee of the Indonesian Regional Science Association, and a member of the Advisory Committee of the Economy and Environment Institute-Indonesia.

Diane Lee

Dr Diane Lee is a specialist in the sustainable development of tourism in Australia and developing nations; her recent research focuses on tourism in nature-based settings and teaching approaches for tertiary tourism studies. She has worked with both state and federal governments on tourism-related matters and was the WA State Network Coordinator of the Sustainable Tourism CRC 204-2006. Diane held an Executive Committee member position with the Forum Advocating Cultural and Ecotourism, a WA tourism industry group, from 2005 to 2015. She is currently the Academic Chair of Tourism and Events at Murdoch University, with delivery at both Murdoch and Singapore campuses.

Fajar Hirawan

Dr Fajar Hirawan’s research focuses on how to improve the economy in the global world, including related to the issues of food security, international trade, digital economy, small and medium enterprises and rural-urban poverty. He is the Head of the Economics Department at prominent think tank the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta. Fajar is an active lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Business, Indonesian International Islamic University.

Clarice Campbell

Clarice Campbell is the Lead Adviser, Skills for the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement’s (IA-CEPA) Economic Cooperation Program, Katalis in Jakarta. She is responsible for creating commercial partnerships between Indonesian industry players and Australian vocational providers to address skills gaps in Indonesia. Within the skills portfolio, Clarice liaises with key stakeholders from both the public and private sectors, and aims to find inclusive and sustainable opportunities for businesses.

Outside of Katalis, many would know Clarice through her community work where she has been very active in the bilateral relationship for a number of years. She is the National President of AIYA. In this role she leads over 170 committee members to create engaging content and ensure young people from any background have an opportunity to learn about and participate in the bilateral relationship.

Clarice is also an alumnus of the Australia-Indonesia Youth Exchange Program and completed an Indonesian studies and linguistics degree at Monash University.

Elena Williams

Elena Williams is a higher education consultant and PhD candidate at ANU, researching DFAT-funded student mobility programs and Australia-Indonesia relations. Between 2013 and 2017 she served as the Indonesia-based Resident Director for ACICIS, and has since advised on learning abroad to Indonesia with the University of Melbourne, the Victorian Department of Education and Tetra Tech. Elena holds an MA in gender and development Studies (ANU), a BA Honours in Indonesian studies (USyd), and a BA in communications and international studies (UTS).

Elena currently serves on the board of DFAT’s Australia-Indonesia Institute, and is a panel member for the Australia-Indonesia Youth Exchange Program, Australia Awards Indonesia and the New Colombo Plan’s selection committees. In 2022 Elena was awarded ANU’s Sir Raymond Firth Research Prize in recognition of her research on the Australia-Indonesia relationship. She is a proud CAUSINDY alumni from 2014.

Gilang Ahmad Fauzi

Having worked in the development sector for more than 10 years, Gilang has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to creating positive impacts to local communities. Over the past decade, he has started jumping into the development sector by working for ACICIS and assisting its Development Studies Immersion Program before finishing a Master of Development Studies at Murdoch University with an Australia Awards Scholarship.

He is also passionate about contributing to local communities through tourism. His concern is that the tourism sector can contribute to improving the economic level of the community. However, he is also concerned with the negative impacts tourism can have on the economic, social, cultural and environmental aspects. Thus, he is passionate about developing tourism destinations by empowering communities through sustainable tourism development programs to maximise the positive impacts while minimising its negative impacts.

Robbie Gaspar

Robbie Gaspar is a CAUSINDY alumni and the President of the Indonesia Institute, the peak body for independent insight and engagement into Indonesia-Australia bilateral relations. He is passionate about building cross-cultural ties between Indonesia and Australia with a long history of supporting the bilateral relationship in business and sport, and was the first Australian footballer to play professionally in Indonesia. Robbie played in Indonesia for almost eight years, including for Indonesia’s most prestigious football club, Persib Bandung, and actively promotes sports diplomacy between the two countries.

He graduated from the ACICIS in-country program and spent time at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, where he developed and assisted with implementing their first-ever sports diplomacy strategy.

Robbie was awarded Life Membership of Professional Footballers Australia for his contribution to supporting professional football players across Southeast Asia, including Indonesia. He sat on the Australian Indonesian Business Council Western Australia committee for over five years and held the chair role from 2020 to 2021.

Wahyu Kusumaningtias

Wahyu Kusumaningtias works for Australia Awards in Indonesia as a Deputy Director. Specialising in scholarships management, capacity and partnerships development, she works closely with partner governments, agencies, universities, institutions, applicants and alumni to deliver the program on behalf of the Australian Government.

Wahyu leads a team of Indonesians and Australians in developing innovative and delivering high-quality programs that support the Australian Government’s public diplomacy and development objectives.

She feels privileged to have this job and position supporting the bright and future leaders of Indonesia in achieving their aspirations and establishing mutual networks with Australians.