Last Friday the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon Julie Bishop MP and the Minister for Education and Training, the Hon Christopher Pyne,  released details of the mobility projects that will be funded in 2016 under the New Colombo Plan. Macquarie will receive in excess of $1 million over a three-year period.

From 2016, this will enable nearly 300 Macquarie students to travel to Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Fiji, India, Japan, Singapore, Thailand or Vietnam through a New Colombo Plan mobility project.

“The successful bid was a result of the collaborative planning and long term approach to the development of mobility and internationalisation between faculties and divisions, including PACE, PACE-International, Arts, FBE, Human Sciences, Science & Engineering and Macquarie International,” said Michele Robinson, Associate Director International Relations.

“This offer will mean a total number of 291 Macquarie students will be supported over the three years.”

Many of Macquarie’s proposed projects are for multi-year funding that will scale up over the three years, from 2016-2018. Of 13 projects funded, nine are multi-year, and four are single year.

Year one will support outbound mobility for 94 Macquarie students with more than $320,000 in scholarships in 2016.

The New Colombo Plan is a signature initiative of the Australian Government to lift knowledge of the Indo-Pacific by supporting Australian undergraduate students to study and undertake internships in our region. A total of $20 million was available to Australian universities with a strong focus on semester programs and work-integrated learning opportunities.

Minister Pyne said: “New Colombo Plan students will return home with new insights and understanding about the region that will help them to contribute to the economic and cultural life of Australia.”