Universities warn of ‘extinction of Asian language education’

The Indonesian embassy has told a federal parliamentary standing committee on education that a ‘downward trend’ in language studies ‘weakens the foundation of mutual understanding that underpins long-term bilateral communication’.

Entire states are witnessing the ‘potential extinction of formal Asian language education’, universities are warning.

Entire states are witnessing the “potential extinction of formal Asian language education,” universities are warning, as the Indonesian Embassy raises “deep concern” over declining enrolments in foreign language classes.

The embassy told a federal parliamentary standing committee on education that a “downward trend” in language studies across schools and universities “weakens the foundation of mutual understanding that underpins long-term bilateral communication”.

The University of Tasmania, in a submission to an inquiry into building Asia capability through education, said that “without urgent co-ordinated intervention, Tasmania – and potentially other jurisdictions – we will see the formal teaching of Asian languages collapse entirely within the next ­decade”.

“When language programs collapse, the entire ecosystem of Asia capability weakens,” it said.

Asian capability refers to the teaching and learning of Asian languages, cultural literacy and regional engagement.

The university said that formal Asian language teaching at schools in Tasmania could cease in the 2030s, that language programs were struggling to remain financially viable at universities, and that there had been no federal government policy for Asia literacy since 2012.

The university calls for Asian languages to be made a core requirement to Year 10 through the national curriculum.

“We are witnessing the potential extinction of formal Asian language education in an entire Australian state before we reach the halfway point of the ‘Asian century’,” the University of Tasmania said.

Universities Australia also warned of the “systematic decline in university enrolments in Asian languages” and called again for the removal of the Jobs-ready Graduate package that had exacerbated the problem by reducing total funding for language studies.

The peak body said a “significant challenge” for teaching Asian languages in universities was a declining pipeline of secondary school enrolments in languages, with just over 3 per cent of year 12 students enrolled in Japanese, Chinese or Indonesian.

Australian National University’s College of Asia and the Pacific called the decline in Asian languages and regional engagement in the education system a “crisis”. This was partly due to “rapidly worsening shortages of qualified Asian language teachers … especially in state schools” and a ­decrease in available specialist degrees on Asia, adding that the Asian Studies degree at ANU had decline by 70 per cent in the past six years.

The Indonesian embassy in Canberra said in a submission that, while the “strategic partnership” between Australia and Indonesia continues to grow, “the human capital needed to sustain it, students, teachers and professionals proficient in Indonesian, has been steadily declining”.

“School enrolments have dropped by more than 50 per cent since the early 2000s, and several universities, including the University of Tasmania and the Australian Defence Force Academy (UNSW Canberra), have recently closed or suspended their Indonesian language offerings for next year,” the embassy said.

“This downward trend is deeply concerning, as it not only limits opportunities for Australian students to engage meaningfully with one of their nearest neighbours, but also weakens the foundation of mutual understanding that underpins long-term bilateral co-operation. Revitalising Indonesian language education is therefore essential, not only as an academic pursuit but as an invest­ment in Australia’s future relationship with Indonesia and the broader region.”

Australia’s peak industry association, the Ai Group, has called on the government to restore federal funding to at least $20 per student annually for Asian language learning in schools, equivalent to pre-2002 levels, and ensure universities receive full commonwealth funding contributions for every domestic student enrolled in Asian language courses.

It also recommended pathways for international students with Asian heritage to transfer credits from overseas teaching qualifications to address the teacher shortage.

Group of Eight CEO Vicki Thomson said true Asia capability “goes beyond language proficiency alone”.

“It requires deep cultural literacy, strategic understanding, and the ability to build trust and navigate complex relationships across the region,” she said. “Australia’s future leaders must be equipped not just to speak the language, but to understand the context, history, and dynamics that shape the Indo-Pacific.”