Leadership Team

Sally Hill

Sally works at the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department.

She holds Bachelors of Laws and International Relations and two diplomas of languages in Arabic and Indonesian. In 2013 Sally was awarded the Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Award for her first class research examining the effects of corruption on trade and aid in the Australia-Indonesia relationship.

Sally has worked as a solicitor, paralegal and seasonal clerk, at commercial law firms over the past five years, including at MinterEllison, Herbert Smith Freehills, Baker & McKenzie and Ashurst’s Melbourne and Jakarta offices.

During her most recent stay in Indonesia from 2013-2015 Sally worked as a consultant providing executive advice and training to staff at the Centre for World Trade Studies in Yogyakarta, as well as held the role of First Secretary to the Indonesian Ambassador to the WTO at the Ninth Ministerial Conference in Bali.

Prior to this Sally lived in Tunisia, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka where she interned at Colombo University’s Centre for the Study of Human Rights and won an Australia Arab Chamber of Commerce Language Award for her proficiency in Arabic.

Sally has spent 12 years traveling between Australia and Indonesia for work, study and pleasure and maintains technical proficiency in Indonesian/Malay, evidenced by her first-place award at the International Malay Speaking Competition: Prime Minister’s Championship (PABM).

As a co-founding member of the Australia-Indonesia Youth Association (AIYA), Sally is passionate about strengthening the bilateral relationship through people-to-people links. Sally believes that trust and mutual understanding are essential to maintaining Australia’s place in the world and that communication (and foreign language skills) is key to achieving this.

Sheila Hie

Melanie Kilby

Melanie has engaged in the Australia-Indonesia bilateral relationship for over fifteen years and continues to learn Indonesian today. Her passion for Indonesian language and culture began in high school and continued through to university, where she completed an Honours degree in Indonesian Studies. Melanie is the Secretary on the board of AIYA and currently works at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in Canberra.

Melanie believes that language learning is a key tool in the development of strong Australia-Indonesia relations. She considers NAILA to be a vital platform for both promoting language learning and connecting future leaders in the relationship, and is excited to contribute her efforts to the competition.

Maighdlin Doyle

Maighdlin is a public servant. She recently completed a year-long assignment as an Australian Volunteer for International Development working as a Communications Consultant at The Asia Foundation’s Jakarta Office.

Maighdlin holds a double degree in International Relations and Asia-Pacific Studies (Honours), with majors in Indonesian Language and Indonesian Studies, from the Australian National University. In 2015, Maighdlin completed a semester-long exchange program at Parahyangan Catholic University in Bandung with the Australian Consortium for ‘In-Country’ Indonesian Studies (ACICIS). In 2015-2016, she was the ACT Chapter President of the Australia-Indonesia Youth Association.

Nurfitra Asa

Asa currently works for the Australian Consortium for ‘In-Country’ Indonesian Studies (ACICIS) as Stakeholder Relations and Internships Manager. Beside NAILA, he was previously active in AIYA’s Victoria Chapter as the Creative Officer in 2014-2015. As well as his interest in Australia-Indonesia relations, Asa is a passionate environmentalist. He graduated from Monash University with a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Geoscience. Prior to joining ACICIS, Asa was involved in sustainable development research, with a particular focus on sustainable natural resource management in Kalimantan. Based in Yogyakarta, Asa is determined to strengthen Australia-Indonesia relations through building partnerships between Australian organisations and their Indonesian counterparts. Asa was an integral part of NAILA’s development in its inaugural year and looks forward to growing NAILA in subsequent years.

Lachlan Haycock

Lachlan is a writer and editor with experience in interpreting, social media management and partnerships. He is an Arts (Honours) graduate in Indonesian language and literature, completed via exchange in Java and Lombok. Lachlan is a New Colombo Plan Scholar 2016, an alumnus of both RUILI and ACICIS, and was chosen as a participant in the Australia-Indonesia Youth Exchange Program (AIYEP) 2018-2019. He has dedicated much of recent years volunteering for AIYA chapters in Queensland and Yogyakarta. A highlight of his involvement in NAILA has been sharing in the passion for language learning and observing the forging of valuable connections between awardees and their families, team members and judges.

Stephen Sebastian Tedja

Stephen recently completed his Australian education and currently works for retail and ecommerce as an accountant.

Stephen is passionate about community development through P2P cultural exchange and language learning. He therefore believes that the work of NAILA and AIYA is crucial to develop the relationships between the two nations. This has driven Stephen to be involved extensively in the Australia-Indonesia sphere since he arrived in Australia.

Stephen has been involved with NAILA’s Finance portfolio since 2016. He is also the former AIYA Victoria Chapter President (2017/2018).

Michael Anderson

Michael is completing a BA(Hons) at the University of Melbourne, writing his thesis on the intersection between Chinese Indonesian religious and political developments. He also works in administration at the Australia Indonesia Business Council.

Michael has previously interned with YCAB Foundation, an Indonesian not-for-profit and social enterprise specialising in microfinance and education, and has completed short courses at Udayana University, Denpasar and Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta. He was president of the Melbourne University Indonesian Studies and Language Association for two years.

Michael is passionate about Indonesia, with particular interests in the fields of history, religion, literature and bilateral business/finance. He has volunteered for NAILA since 2015 and began coordinating partnerships in 2018.

Adhie Putra Perwira

Adhie is a final-year international relations student in Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Other than speaking fluent English, he also speaks intermediate Spanish due to his experience of studying in Universitat Jaume I, Spain in 2015.

He admits that he mostly learned English autodidactically through games and movies. In 2010, he and two of his friends founded a community that teaches English to children for fun, namely English Fun Club, because he believes that learning another language is very important and the learning process should be fun.

He has worked as a freelance translator since 2013. Now, he is the founder and CEO of a professional translation company named Transletin. Majoring in diplomacy concentration in his study, Adhie realises the importance of Indonesia – Australia relations. Through NAILA, Adhie wishes to use his skills and experiences to contribute for the goodness of Indonesia and Australia’s relations.

Wisnu Trianugraha

Wisnu Trianugeraha is finishing his Bachelor of Politics with a major in International Relations at Universitas Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. As one of the Indonesian representatives to go on a cultural exchange program funded by the BRIDGE Program in 2011, he has been involved in Australia-Indonesia relations since high school. His commitment to the bilateral relationship has given him the opportunity to study in Adelaide in 2014 through a scholarship scheme between Universitas Gadjah Mada and the University of Adelaide.

He is working part time at the moment as a staff member of his university’s Office of International Affairs while finishing his Bachelor thesis on Australia’s Public Diplomacy in Indonesia through international volunteering. He has also been very active in the Australia-Indonesia Youth Association (AIYA) since 2014 and is currently the Vice President of the Yogyakarta Chapter.

Wisnu believes in the importance of people-to-people diplomacy between Australian and Indonesian youth as a strong base of the two countries’ mutual partnership and hopes that his contribution in NAILA can foster these relationships.

Muhammad Hakim

Hakim currently works as a Student Leader at the Graduate Student Learning Hub in the Faculty of Education, Monash University.

Hakim is a student at Monash University completing a Master of TESOL (Teaching English to Speaker of Other Languages) through LPDP Scholarship (Indonesian Endowment Fund for Education) scheme. He holds a Bachelor of Education majoring in English Education from IAIN Salatiga (State Institute of Islamic Studies), which he completed in 2015. Hakim was a member of the International Class Program and worked as an assistant lecturer while he completed his undergraduate study. As a postgraduate student, Hakim actively engages in the Campus Community Division as an International Student Ambassador. He is also involved in the Melbourne-based Krakatoas, a football community club.

Hakim is passionate about language education. He believes education and language study can strengthen bilateral cooperation.

Wilson Chandra

Wilson graduated from Binus University in 2017 with a double degree in Information Systems and Industrial Engineering. He began his career as a Management Trainee at Danone Indonesia, during which time he was assigned to the Sales Strategic and Planning Department. As a Project Manager, he handled projects across Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, East Java, Sumatra. The projects were concerned with sales intelligence, route to market and business development, and worked to drive profit for Danone Indonesia and distributor businesses.

Experienced handling different challenging project, already create my capability to have managerial mindset such as negotiation,  communication, critical, dynamic and opportunities thinking. This success meant he graduated from Danone’s Management Trainee Program with honours, and he continued his journey at Danone in a permanent role as Assistant Manager Associate, Business Development, Channel and Category Strategy for Sumatra, Jakarta, and West Java.

While at university, Wilson participated in activities both academic (study case competition, laboratory assistant) and non-academic (youth organisation, student exchange), and was awarded scholarships from the Asia-Europe Foundation and South Korea’s Duksung University. Wilson believes learning something new and sharing in something great improves one’s self-development, an opportunity which he sees in NAILA. His interest in people-to-people networking, project management and multicultural partnerships motivates him to further collaboration between Indonesian and Australian youth.

Meta Azalia

Meta is currently enrolled in a Bachelor of Commerce at Griffith University in Queensland, majoring in accounting. She loves to learn and develop her analytical thinking and creativity. Beside accounting and finance, she is also interested in business and data. During her studies, she worked as a Business Development Intern at Garuda Indonesia Airlines and an Accounting and Finance Intern at Elnusa Petrofin. Outside her academic and work life, she is active in a running community called IndoRunners, and various other sports communities.

As she is passionate about Indonesian traditional dance and the diverse ethnicity of Indonesia, she enjoys promoting the country to everyone, especially her friends in Australia. She believes Australia and Indonesia have much potential to empower a strong relationship and collaboration between them. The bilateral relationship has inspired her to become actively involved in several relevant organisations. She is part of AIYA’s Queensland Chapter and is a volunteer for Balai Bahasa dan Budaya Indonesia- Queensland (BBIQ).

In order to advance her contribution to Indonesian language and culture, to meet new faces of inspiring people, and to advance her accounting and finance knowledge and skills, she is pleased to join NAILA in 2019 as a Finance Officer.

Minh Bui

Minh is an undergraduate student in the School of Economics, University of Sydney. He is also a recipient of the prestigious Young Researcher Scholarship (YRS) instituted by the Social Science and Humanities Research Association (SSHRA). Under this scholarship, he presented his research paper “Neoclassical and Classical perspectives on Competition in the Australian banking sector” at the VIth International Conference on Business, Economics, Law, Language & Psychology (ICBELLP) in Jakarta. He is also a recipient of a mobility grant under the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s New Colombo Plan (NCP), where he undertook a semester exchange at Universitas Indonesia in the second half of 2018. 

Minh is currently undertaking another semester exchange at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China. Minh has represented Australia as a delegate at the 8th Australia-China Emerging Leader’s Summit (ACELS8), held in Shanghai, China, on the theme of Sino-Australian trade, the challenges surrounding it, and the future trajectory of the Chinese economy.

He has also been very active in AIYA since 2018. Minh believes that an in-depth understanding of Indonesian language and culture are cornerstones for stronger cultural and trade relations between Australia and Indonesia. It is Minh’s hope that his contribution to NAILA can help Australians of all ages to undertake study of Indonesian language and culture.

Danica Vania Limawan

Danica is a final year student at Padjadjaran University in Bandung, Indonesia, studying a Bachelor of Business Administration, Faculty of Social and Political Science. In 2016, she was a delegate for a leadership program in Youth Excursion Japan 2016 “History of The Nation and Technologies for Future Generations in The World.”

Having a passion for art, Danica works as a freelance editor and graphic designer. She is currently a General Manager in Information and Technology Department at Association of Business Administration Students Padjadjaran University. She is also the Head of Media in Advocacy Department in her faculty organization.

Danica loves travelling around Indonesia and overseas. She also has an interest in studying other cultures and building relationships. Through NAILA Danica hopes to contribute to developing and strengthening the Australia-Indonesia relationship.

Jade Lee

Jade is completing a double degree in Business and Arts, majoring in Economics and Indonesian. She hopes to finish her degree in 2020 by completing an ACICIS Semester Program in Yogyakarta.

She is the Secretary for AIYA Victoria and presently interns with the Australia Indonesia Business Council (AIBC), which aims to strengthen business ties between Australia and Indonesia. Throughout 2019, Jade has organised cultural events that aim to encourage high school students to continue with their Indonesian language studies.

Since encountering Indonesian studies in high school, Jade’s passion to support the Australia-Indonesia relationship has continually expanded. She has participated in two ACICIS programs, including an intensive language learning program in Salatiga, Java, as well as the Business Professional Practicum in Jakarta. During her time in Jakarta in early 2019, she interned at Hill & Associates, a security risk firm active throughout South-East Asia. She also attended several AIYA Jakarta and professional networking events.

As she progresses through her degree and career, Jade hopes to be involved in the kind of work that is meaningful, significant and purposeful for both Australia and Indonesia.

Destania Ika Putri

Destania graduated from Parahyangan Catholic University with a Bachelor of Political Science. She enjoys being actively involved in volunteer activities that support youth leadership. She also loves to work with children and started a project to teach child prisoners in Bandung for two years. Destania believes in the value of “living beyond ourselves,” that life is not always about yourself but also others. Working for UNICEF is one of her dreams.

Destania’s involvement in the Australia-Indonesia relationship grew from involvement in a youth leadership homestay program in Australia by Gerakan Mari Berbagi in 2016, as well as her prior experience working at Australia Awards in Indonesia.

By volunteering with NAILA, Destania is excited by the prospects of future collaboration between Australia and Indonesian youth.

Rebekah de Keijzer

Rebekah is a fifth year Law and International Studies student, majoring in Indonesian at Deakin University. Her love for Indonesia extends back to 2013, where she participated in the Indonesian Australian Association’s six-week high-school exchange to Bandung. Since then she has completed a language intensive at Universitas Negeri Padang and interned with the Victorian Trade and Investment Office in Jakarta. She is excited to join NAILA and advance Indonesian language studies across Australia.

Agus Firman

Agus is an alumnus of the English Department of Syiah Kuala University in Aceh. He currently works as a freelance English tutor, interpreter, and translator. He has been teaching English since 2012 for both private and state schools, including private courses. In 2013, he focused on enhancing his skills in translation and interpreting, and has since worked in a variety of local and international institutions such as Green Doctor from South Korea in 2015 and the International Center for Aceh and Indian Ocean Studies (ICAIOS) from 2014 to 2017.

Agus is an active volunteer at the Office of International Affairs at Syiah Kuala University where he plays a role in organising numerous international and local events conducted by the institution. Previously, Agus had a chance to participate in a student exchange program at Scotch College in Perth in 2007. The four-week experience made him realize how much Indonesia and Australia shares a mutual interest in improving the prosperity of both countries.

Agus realises that language plays a paramount role in reinforcing the bilateral relationship. Thus, he hopes joining NAILA as a translator will provide him an opportunity to have direct access to promoting the Indonesian language in Australia.

Anggi Nurqonita

Anggi obtained her Bachelor of Arts from Universitas Indonesia, with a major in Eastern European Literature. She is passionate about journalism and foreign languages and keen on fostering the Australia and Indonesia relationship.

In addition to acting as a Social Media Officer for AIYA National, Anggi is currently the Supervisor of the Film Department at SAE Education in Jakarta. She believes having the ability to speak foreign languages is one of the essential methods of fostering diplomatic relations. Her interest in foreign languages motivated her to participate in and emerge as the 1st Winner of the UNESCO Multimedia Contest 2018. Anggi hopes by taking part in NAILA as a Language Officer, she can contribute to supporting the Australia-Indonesia relationship.

Indra Pujianto

Indra is studying a Master Degree in International Relations at the University of Indonesia. He is originally from Bandar Lampung. Prior to his Master Degree, he studied at English Department, Diponegoro University in Semarang where he studied translation for two years from a basic to an advanced level. He found that learning translation is both challenging and fun. Currently, Indra is starting a translation service business in his hometown.

Indra is also actively involved in social and volunteering activities, such as Earth Hour Bandar Lampung, Berbagi Nasi Lampung, and Taman Baca Masyarakat Kampung Merdeka. He is also running an initiative named Social Synergy Lampung which aims to empower Lampung youth and engage them in social development processes.

In April 2017, Indra was selected as Lampung delegate for YSEALI Youth4Dev Academy Bootcamp in Semarang. In May 2017, he became the delegate of Indonesia to participate in Tech Camp in Bangkok, Thailand.

Indra hopes that by volunteering as a translator in NAILA, he can promote Indonesian language study in Australia and strengthen the bilateral relationship.

Joey Gildas

Joey just completed his Master in Asia-Pacific Studies at the Australian National University (ANU) under the Endeavour Scholarship by the Australian Department of Education and Training. He holds a Bachelor of Social Studies in International Relations from Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH) in Indonesia.

In 2012, he had an internship at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Jakarta office, working on Strengthening Access to Justice in Indonesia (SAJI) Project. Whilst studying in Australia, Joey had the opportunity to be the part of the 2016 Asia-Pacific Week Committee as the Delegates Coordinator. Earlier this year, he also had the opportunity to tutor an Australian friend who was taking Bahasa Indonesia course at the university.

Through the tutoring experience, he became interested in teaching Bahasa Indonesia as the way to deliver the diverse Indonesian culture to Australians. Through NAILA, he hopes to be able to contribute to Australia-Indonesia relations by promoting Bahasa Indonesia and its diverse cultures to Australians. He also hopes to be able to teach Bahasa Indonesia in Australia someday as he believes that teaching Bahasa Indonesia is not only just learning the language, but also the method to understand Indonesia more as one of Australia’s closest neighbours.

Kristel Cahyadi Tjandra

Kristel is a PhD Candidate at the School of Chemistry, The University of New South Wales. She moved to Sydney seven years ago, after completing her High School Certificate (HSC) in Jakarta. Kristel completed a Bachelor of Medicinal Chemistry with first class Honours in 2014 and then received an international student Postgraduate Scholarship from UNSW to continue her studies.

Kristel is interested in cross-cultural exchange between Australian and Indonesian students. As an undergraduate she was a member of PPIA and thoroughly enjoyed working with others to bring about events to promote Indonesia in the wider society.

Siti Nurhalimah

Siti currently works as a freelance translator for various local and international agencies. She has extensive experience in the translation. She completed a Bachelor of Arts majoring in English Linguistics and Literature at the State University of Malang. She is interested in studying international business and linguistics as well as learning Swedish and Korean. She understands that it is important to promote Indonesian language studies in Australia to maintain a stronger bond.