On 4 May 2009, the Minister for Education, Julia Gillard, announced the establishment of a Reference Group to provide strategic oversight of the NALSSP.
Consisting of a number of prominent experts from the education and business sectors, the NALSSP Reference Group has been established to assist the delivery of the Australian Government’s commitment to increase Asian languages and studies of Asia provided in Australian schools.
The Reference Group will provide expert advice and high level strategic oversight across all elements of the NALSSP initiative. It will advise the Government on current and emerging issues relating to Australia’s relationship with the target Asian countries, particularly where they may impact on the achievement of NALSSP objectives. It will also assist the Government in forming strategic relationships aimed at promoting the teaching and learning of the target Asian languages and studies of Asia in Australian schools, while playing a key role in maintaining the visibility of Asian languages education.
The Reference Group represents the interests of universities, the teaching and education profession, and business and Asian communities. Members were selected by the Deputy Prime Minister due to their experience in the promotion of Asian languages and cultures and extensive involvement within the Asian region in a range of fields, recognising that increasing Asia literacy for students requires a coordinated effort across sectors.
The group will meet three times a year over the life of the NALSSP initiative.
NALSSP Reference Group Membership
Mr Sid Myer (Chair)
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Mr Sid Myer is Chairman of Asialink at The University of Melbourne, a Director of The Myer Family Company, Vice President of The Myer Foundation, a Trustee of the Sidney Myer Fund and Chairman of the Myer Foundation Beyond Australia Committee.
Mr Myer has strong associations with Asia, having lived in Malaysia for over four years and invested in, and managed businesses, in a number of countries in Asia.
Mr Myer’s 25 years of experience in business and philanthropy has given him an opportunity to develop impressive global networks, especially in Asia that span across business, government, academia and the arts. |
Mr Myer has been Co-chair of the Asialink Conversations Vietnam (2005), Asialink APEC Conversations (2006) and Asialink Conversations India (2008) which included collaboration with the Japan/US/ India trilateral meeting. These forums facilitate and synthesize opinions from leaders of business, government, politics and academia about the future directions of the Asia Pacific region.
Mr Myer was one of only two Australians to be invited by the President of Indonesia to join the Presidential Friends of Indonesia in 2008. In 2005 and again in 2009, Mr Myer was appointed a member of the Australia-Thailand Institute set up by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to promote relationships and expand institutional, cultural and personal links with Thailand.
In April 2008, Mr Myer was a participant in the 2020 Summit in the Australia's Future in the World stream.
Professor Kent Anderson
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Professor Kent Anderson is a Professor at the Australian National University (ANU) College of Law and College of Asia and the Pacific. He is the Director of the Faculty of Asian Studies, where all four NALSSP languages are taught, as well as ten other Asian languages including Hindi, Vietnamese and Thai. He is also President of the Japanese Studies Association of Australia and Co-director of the Australian Network for Japanese Law (ANJeL).
Professor Anderson convenes Japanese Law and Society at ANU. His research has largely focused on comparative commercial law, private international law, and law and film. His articles have been published in English and Japanese in Australia, Asia, North America and Europe. He has studied or taught at Chuo, Hokkaido, Kobe, Nagoya, Nanzan and Waseda universities in Japan. |
Mr Andrew Blair AM
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Mr Andrew Blair was elected as President of the Australian Secondary Principals Association (ASPA) in 2005 after being a member of the Executive for five years. He concluded that term in 2009. At a state level, he was President of the Victorian Association of State Secondary Principals for a term of four years during 2002-2005. He has recently concluded his term as President of the International Confederation of Principals (ICP) for 2009 and 2010. He is currently serving as Immediate Past President.
While on the ASPA executive, Mr Blair has provided leadership in the area of languages, and has a special interest in the teaching and learning of Asian languages and cultures in secondary schools. In recent years he has been a member of the Asia Education Foundation’s Advisory Board, a member of the Teaching Australia Board and a Council member of the Australian National Council for Drugs (ANCD). He is currently a Board member of AFL Sports Ready Pty Ltd. He is working with the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development in a liaison Principal capacity in policy and research. |
His career as a teacher and leader includes working for over thirty five years, both in country and metropolitan Victoria, with his most recent role as principal being at Mt Eliza Secondary College.
Ms Kathe Kirby
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Ms Kathe Kirby is Executive Director of Asialink and the Asia Education Foundation (AEF) at The University of Melbourne. She works across Asialink programs and has particular responsibility for Asialink’s education strategies spanning national and international activities.
Ms Kirby is foundation member of the AEF since 1993, where she has held the positions of Executive Director, National Manager and Partnerships Manager. In this capacity she has worked across Australia and the Asian region including China, Korea, Japan, India, Vietnam and Indonesia. Ms Kirby has a background in education as a teacher, university lecturer and senior policy officer in the Victorian Department of Education. |
Ms Kirby's key interest is in implementing educational change and innovation in areas of national interest. In 2001, she was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to investigate the studies of Asia in school education in the USA, UK, Japan and Korea.
In 2009, Ms Kirby was appointed a member of the Australia Malaysia Institute Board set up by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to promote relationships and expand institutional, cultural and personal links with Malaysia. She is a Board Member of the Foundation for Young Australians.
Professor Tim Lindsey
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Professor Tim Lindsey is an Australian Research Council Federation Fellow, Director of the Asian Law Centre, and Director of the Centre for Islamic Law and Society, both in The University of Melbourne Law School.
Professor Lindsey is a graduate of The University of Melbourne and completed his doctoral thesis in Indonesian studies. He teaches and researches Indonesian law, shariah (Islamic law), comparative law and law reform in developing countries. He researches and teaches in Bahasa Indonesia and was Senior Technical Adviser to AusAID’s Australia Indonesia Legal Development Facility.
Professor Lindsey is Chair of the Board of the Australia-Indonesia Institute, a member of the Foreign Affairs Council, and a member of the Victorian Bar. |
Mr Tony Mackay
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Tony Mackay is Deputy Chair of Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, Chair of the recently announced Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, and immediate past President of the Australian Curriculum Studies Association. He is a member of the Asia Education Foundation Advisory Board, and has recently been asked to head a Working Group of the Board on the implementation of the National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools Program.
Mr Mackay is also widely involved in the broader education community at local, national and international levels. He is the President of the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Innovation Unit Ltd in England, a member of the Board of Directors of the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), an Honorary Fellow in the Graduate School of Education at The University of Melbourne, a Board Member of the Foundation for Young Australians, and a Governing Body member of a Prep – Year 12 Melbourne school. |
Ms Alice Wong (GAICD)
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Ms Alice Wong is Head of Asia and Migrant Markets, the Westpac Group. She is a member of the Boards of Asialink, the Asia Society AustralAsia Centre and the Patron of the Chinese Cancer Society of Victoria. Alice has more than thirty years in the banking industry, working primarily with the Asian business community in Australia.
Ms Wong is a strong believer in the importance and understanding of cross-cultural communication in successful business, whether it be Australian-based businesses looking to expand into Asia, or understanding the needs of Asian businesses entering Australia.
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Ms Wong began her career at the National Australia Bank, where she started as a typist in 1977 and held various positions as teller, settlements clerk, home finance lender, branch manager, business banker and Head of Asian Business - Melbourne. In 2004, she joined Westpac as Head of Asia Markets.
Ms Wong worked in the Civil Service in Hong Kong before immigrating to Australia to join her husband Ken. They live in Melbourne and have two children, Florence, a lawyer, and Eric, a horticulturist. In her spare time, Alice enjoys gardening and reading.