About Us
We foster stronger connections, educate and empower our community across government, business, higher education and civil society, to better understand the critical issues facing our region.
Based at The University of Western Australia, we are a non-partisan and not-for-profit institution.
Through our research and educational activities, we strengthen strategic thinking between Australia, the Indo-Pacific, and the United States, and engage thought leaders to address challenges and opportunities in the Indo-Pacific region.
Since our inception in 2013, we have informed a diverse community of more than 27,000 people, at more than 750 events, across 25 cities in 10 countries.
Our People
The Perth USAsia Centre comprises an experienced team of researchers, communicators and operations professionals, governed by a board of directors.
Staff
Our team produces high-calibre events, research and media to support our strategic goals.
Professor Gordon Flake
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
T: +61 8 6488 4327
Professor Gordon Flake is the founding Chief Executive Officer of the Perth USAsia Centre at The University of Western Australia.
Professor Flake is one of the world’s leading authorities on strategic developments in the Indo-Pacific. Having spent twenty-five years in the US foreign policy community focused on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia and now nine years in Australia’s Indian Ocean capital he is an expert on key strategic relationships in the broader Indo-Pacific. He has authored many scholarly and policy studies on security developments in the region, and their policy implications for the US and its regional partners.
Since establishing the Centre in 2014, Professor Flake has worked to build stronger international relationships between Australia, the US and the broader Indo-Pacific. He has led the growth of several major international conferences in Australia and the region; and established a range of high-level diplomatic and policy dialogues on issues of shared concern for the Indo-Pacific.
Professor Flake is a sought-after media commentator, particularly on strategic developments in the Indo-Pacific and change order issues to do with US politics and foreign policy. His work has appeared in many leading international outlets, including the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, as well as across the Australian media landscape.
Professor Flake holds a number of strategic leadership roles. He is a Governor of the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia (AmCham) and serves on the board of the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He is a member of the Australian “Friends of Vietnam” group, Co-Chair of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea and a member of the international advisory board of the David M. Kennedy Centre at Brigham Young University.
Prior to joining the Centre, he was the Executive Director of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, an Associate Director of the Program on Conflict Resolution at The Atlantic Council of the United States, and Director for Research and Academic Affairs at the Korea Economic Institute of America.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Korean) and Master of Arts (International and Area Studies) from Brigham Young University. He speaks both fluent Korean and Laotian.
Shelby Crookes
Chief Operating Officer
T: +61 8 6488 4319
Shelby Crookes is the Chief Operating Officer at the Perth USAsia Centre and joined the team in May 2016. She provides high level strategic and operational leadership for all Centre activities across programming, research, events and partnerships.
Shelby is a qualified accountant and has more than 15 years’ experience in managing business processes, organisational change, complex budgets and multidisciplinary teams. Prior to joining the Perth USAsia Centre, Shelby spent 8 years working in New York and London, and most recently led the finance, HR and administrative operations for Executive teams at the University of Western Australia.
Dr Lisa Cluett
External Relations Director
T: +61 8 6488 2556
Dr. Lisa Cluett joined the Perth USAsia Centre as the External Relations Director in August 2016. She provides leadership in communication, media, network building and stakeholder engagement to support the Centre’s mission of strengthening relationships and strategic thinking across the Indo-Pacific region. Lisa also leads the Centre’s educational programs including developing and delivering the inaugural microcredential course called ‘Australia and the Indo-Pacific – understanding our strategic connections to Asia’ delivered via the UWA+ platform.
Following an early career in programming at Network Ten in Sydney and a Ph.D. in environmental science based in the northern tropics of Australia, Lisa has gained more than 18 years’ experience in strategy development, online engagement and community building, corporate governance, program evaluation and user analytics.
Originally from the UK., Lisa is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has completed the AICD Director Pipeline Program. She has an Honours degree from the University of Leeds and in 2012 was awarded the UWA Fay Gale Fellowship for overseas career development. In 2013, Lisa won a UWA Award for Excellence in the Provision of Support to Students and a National Citation from the Australian Office of Learning and Teaching (ALTC) for her innovative work in building engaging online communities. In 2020 she was named a National finalist in the Defence Connect Marketing and Communications Professional of the Year Awards.
Dr Kate O’Shaughnessy
Dr Kate O’Shaughnessy leads the Centre’s suite of research programs across the Indo-Pacific.
She brings to the Centre an academic background in Indonesian language and history, along with 16 years’ experience with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Her public sector experience spans providing policy advice to government on Australia’s interests in the Indian Ocean, to supporting development of the Australian aid budget, to intelligence analysis.
During her diplomatic career, she served in Ghana, as well as deployments to Lebanon, France and Nigeria. Immediately before joining the Centre in 2022, she was Australia’s High Commissioner to Mauritius and Seychelles, and Ambassador to Madagascar and Comoros, advocating Australia’s Indo-Pacific vision to stakeholders across the western Indian Ocean.
Originally from Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, Kate holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and PhD in Indonesian history from the University of Western Australia. Her work on gender in Indonesia during the Suharto era – GENDER, STATE AND SOCIAL POWER IN CONTEMPORARY INDONESIA – was published by Routledge as part of its Women in Asia Series. She speaks Indonesian and French.
Aliah Bogdanich
Aliah Bogdanich is a Digital Communications Officer at the Perth USAsia Centre.
With her bachelor of Media and Communications from the University of Notre Dame, Aliah has gone on to take a range of opportunities in all areas of multimedia, from conceptualisation to post production – including working as a photographer, videographer and editor. She has worked on multiple large scale TV shows, and also enjoys working on more intimate story telling with her creative wedding films. Innovation and creativity are defining elements of her ethos.
Aliah is also passionate about spending her time in service activities, and on top of helping different not for profits where she can with media related services, she participates in regular cook ups and deliveries to the homeless, refugees and different Indigenous groups within WA and Internationally.
Dr Pia Dannhauer
Dr Pia Dannhauer is a Research and Program Associate (Southeast Asia) at the Perth USAsia Centre.
Pia’s PhD thesis on Indonesia’s leadership in ASEAN was accepted at Griffith University in 2023.
An English, German and Indonesian speaker, she previously worked for the Asia Pacific Research and Advice Network – an internal think tank that supports EU decision makers.
Pia holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies, with a focus on South and Southeast Asia, from Leiden University in the Netherlands, as well as a joint Master’s in International Relations from three German universities.
Emily Davies
Emily Davies is the Program Coordinator at the Perth USAsia Centre and is responsible for planning and coordinating a range of activities to lead the delivery of the Centre’s programs and provide advice and support to the Leadership Team in relation to the development, delivery and reporting aspects across all Centre outputs.
Prior to this Emily was the Centre’s Digital Communications Officer. She was responsible for implementing the Centre’s communication strategies, managing the Centre’s digital transformation and web projects, and also lead the Centre’s content creation as well as photography, video, website and social media practices.
Emily has worked in a range of marketing and communications roles including small business, not-for-profit and consultancy and before joining the Perth USAsia Centre worked in-house at a national transport and logistics company. Emily is passionate about travel, social responsibility and community engagement and enjoys working in a fast paced environment.
Emily has a Bachelor of Arts (Mass Communication) focussing on Journalism and Public Relations.
Kathryn Froend
Kathryn Froend is a Research and Program Officer at the Perth USAsia Centre. She provides high level research and analytical support to the Centre’s suite of Indo-Pacific publications and programs.
Her research interests include both Northeast Asia and the Indian Ocean.
Kathryn holds a Masters of International Relations from the University of Western Australia, where she focused on geostrategic competition and the use of history in diplomacy in the Indian Ocean Region, through her dissertation.
She is proficient in Japanese and has previously lived in Japan, where she spent 12 months as a Rotary Youth Ambassador.
Kim Heriot-Darragh
Kim Heriot-Darragh joins the Centre as Research and Program Fellow (South Asia), following a 14-year career in defence.
Kim holds undergraduate degrees in International Relations and Asian Studies, as well as a Master of International Law. A former Indonesian linguist, he served with the Australian Government in Timor-Leste, Afghanistan and most recently India from 2019 to 2023.
In 2021, he was the first Australian civilian to complete India’s year-long National Defence College course.
Gemma King
Gemma King is a Research and Program Associate at the Perth USAsia Centre. She provides high-level research and analytical support to the Centre’s suite of Indo-Pacific publications and programs.
Her work focuses on Australia’s geopolitical relationships throughout the Indo-Pacific, including the Australia-Japan relationship, emerging economies in Southeast Asia, the US-Australia Alliance, and the Quad. Gemma leads a number of Centre programs, including the annual Japan Symposium, a public diplomacy initiative of the Japanese Government.
Gemma’s analysis has been published in international and domestic outlets including Nikkei Asia, The Australian Outlook, The Strategist, and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Japan Up Close. She is the Indo-Pacific Fellow for Young Australians in International Affairs and was selected as a delegate a US Department of State Exchange for Rising Think Tank Leaders from Quad Countries.
Gemma holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Relations & Indonesian Studies from the University of Western Australia. She is proficient in Indonesian and has previously undergone student exchange in Indonesia, where she taught English at schools and orphanages in Bali and Java.
Lisa Leitch
administrative officer
T: 61 8 6488 4327
Lisa Leitch is currently the Administrative Officer at the Perth USAsia Centre, originally joining the Centre as Finance Officer in February 2016. Lisa holds a Bachelor in Accounting and Business Law from Edith Cowan University.
Lisa has worked at The University of Western Australia for over 22 years in various roles including Executive Assistant, Executive Officer, Client Service Manager, and Tender Officer before taking three years leave to spend time with her young family. Lisa has extensive administrative experience in the higher education sector.
Melinda Mounsey
OUTREACH OFFICER
T: 61 8 6488 4320
Melinda Mounsey is the Outreach Officer at the Perth USAsia Centre. Melinda has been with the Centre since 2017, and is responsible for maintaining the Centre’s CRM and reporting on stakeholder engagement.
Prior to joining the Perth USAsia Centre, Melinda played a significant team role and leadership in areas of accounting and financial administration for 15 years at The University of Western Australia.
Originally from Queensland, Melinda has made Perth her home with her family.
Madeleine Quy
Madeleine is a Digital Communications Officer at the Perth USAsia Centre and is responsible for the organisation’s digital platforms and content.
Before joining the team, Madeleine worked in the online media industry, and has broad reaching experience in media and communications roles across the public sector.
Madeleine has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Western Australia and a Graduate Certificate in Journalism from Curtin University.
Therese Sanders
Therese Sanders is the Business Advisor at the Perth USAsia Centre and is responsible for leading the Centre’s regulatory compliance, governance and performance measurement.
Therese has a Bachelor of Commerce from UWA, specialising in Financial and Management Accounting and Business Law. She has spent her career in the Education and Research sectors, primarily with the University of Western Australia, Murdoch University and the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre. Her roles have focussed on business and finance operations and improvement, and the provision of high level advice and analysis in support of organisational strategy and initiatives. Therese is an advocate for people with disabilities and is passionate about the principles of social equity.
Tegan Van Gramberg
Tegan Van Gramberg is the Stakeholder Relations Officer at the Perth USAsia Centre and is responsible for planning and coordinating the Centre’s stakeholder outreach and engagement activities.
Tegan joined the Centre from the Department of Home Affairs at the Embassy of Australia in Washington DC, where she worked most recently as a Media and Liaison Officer. Prior to this, she worked for the Department of Home Affairs in Perth and was a Sessional Academic at Curtin University. She has a Master of International Relations with Distinction, Bachelor of Social Science (Politics and International Relations) and Bachelor of Arts (Performance Studies) from Curtin University.
Board of Directors
We are governed by a board of distinguished leaders who have expertise in business, education and international relations.
The Honourable Kim Beazley AC
The Honourable Kim Beazley AC was the 33rd Governor of Western Australia (2018-2022).
Prior to being installed as Governor, Mr Beazley dedicated almost three decades to a career in Federal Parliament, representing the WA seats of Brand and Swan.
In 2009, Mr Beazley was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia for service to the Parliament of Australia through contributions to the development of government policies in relation to defence and international relations, and as an advocate for Indigenous people, and to the community.
Mr Beazley was born in Perth, Western Australia. He completed a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts at the University of Western Australia. In 1973, he was awarded the Rhodes Scholarship for Western Australia and completed a Masters of Philosophy at Oxford University.
Mr Beazley was a Minister in the Hawke and Keating Labor Governments (1983-1996) holding, at various times, the portfolios of Defence, Finance, Transport and Communications, Employment Education and Training, Aviation, and Special Minister of State.
From 1995 to 1996, Mr Beazley was Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1996 to 2001, and 2005 to 2006. Mr Beazley served on parliamentary committees, including the Joint Intelligence Committee and the Joint Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee.
After his retirement from politics in 2007, Mr Beazley was appointed Winthrop Professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations at The University of Western Australia.
In July 2008 he was appointed Chancellor of the Australian National University, a position he held until December 2009.
Mr Beazley took up an appointment as Ambassador to the United States of America in February 2010. He served as Ambassador until January 2016.
Mr Beazley is currently Chair of the Perth USAsia Centre Board, Board Member of Luerssen Australia, Senior Distinguished Fellow of the Australian Strategic Policy Intitute, Advisor to Lockheed Martin Australia, Chair of the Council for the Australian War Memorial and Advisor to TG & Associates.
Deidre Willmott
Deidre Willmott is an experienced non-executive director and executive.
She is a non-executive director of Australia Post, where she chairs the People & Sustainability Committee, Chief Executive Women, where she chairs the Scholarships Committee, and Rock Art Australia. She is a member of the Melbourne School of Government Advisory Board and Kearney ANZ Advisory Group.
Her previous executive roles include Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Commerce & Industry WA, Director External Relations at Fortescue Metals Group, General Manager at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games and Chief of Staff to the Premier of Western Australia.
Ms Willmott attended UWA where she graduated in law and the University of Melbourne where she completed a Master of Laws. She worked in law in Perth and London.
Mark Baillie
DIRECTOR
T: +61 8 6488 4327
Mark Baillie was appointed Chair of the Board of Directors at the US Studies Centre (USSC) in November 2015. Baillie has been a member of the USSC board since February 2014. He was previously the non-executive deputy chairman of Folkestone Limited, an ASX-listed real estate funds management, investment, and development company. Prior to that he was the head of European and North American real estate for Macquarie Group Limited, which included five years based in Chicago.
In addition to his long career with Macquarie Group, Baillie has been a director of the Property Council of Australia, the Shopping Centre Council of Australia, the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (past chairman), the European Public Real Estate Association and the American Australian Association Limited
Sarah Beshar
Sarah Beshar is a senior executive, legal counsel and corporate advisor. In 2017, Ms Beshar was appointed a non-executive member of the Board of Directors of Invesco Ltd, a global asset manager with over US$1.2 Trillion assets under management across multiple asset classes in 150 countries. Currently, she serves as Chairman of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and is on the Audit and Compensation Committees.
In 2015, Ms Beshar completed a thirty year career as a partner and member of management at Davis Polk & Wardwell, a global legal and professional services firm. Ms Beshar was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Law from the University of Western Australia. She received an Honors BCL Degree from Magdalen College at Oxford University as the inaugural Sir Robert Menzies Scholar. She earned a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Jurisprudence, both with First Class Distinction from the University of Western Australia.
Ms Beshar has served as a Trustee of both the University of Western Australia in America and Magdalen College, Oxford University in America. She is a member of the Corporate Board of the Lincoln Center and Board of Trustees of Episcopal Charities, as well as a Conservation Fellow at the Whitney Museum. Recently, she was appointed to the Board of Directors of the American Australian Association. Ms Beshar lives in New York.
Professor Amit Chakma
Professor Amit Chakma is the Vice-Chancellor of The University of Western Australia. He served as President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Western Ontario from 2009 to 2019. Prior to his tenure at Western, he served as Provost and Vice-President Academic at the University of Waterloo from 2001 to 2009.
In addition to his university leadership roles, Professor Chakma has served as Chair of the Council of the Association of Commonwealth Universities from 2017 to 2019. He was also the Acting Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Asian University for Women from 2013 to 2015 and chaired Canada’s Advisory Panel on International Education Strategy from 2011 to 2013.
The Honourable Richard Court AC
The Honourable Richard Court AC has led an extensive and successful career in Government, Foreign Affairs and the Private Sector. He served as the Member for Nedlands in the Western Australian Parliament for almost 20 years, served as Premier and Treasurer of Western Australia for eight years, and as Australia’s Ambassador to Japan from 2017 to 2020.
Professor Gordon Flake
Director
T: <a href=”tel:+61864884327″>61 8 6488 4327</a>
Professor Gordon Flake is the founding Chief Executive Officer of the Perth USAsia Centre at The University of Western Australia.
Professor Flake is one of the world’s leading authorities on strategic developments in the Indo-Pacific. Having spent twenty-five years in the US foreign policy community focused on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia and now nine years in Australia’s Indian Ocean capital he is an expert on key strategic relationships in the broader Indo-Pacific. He has authored many scholarly and policy studies on security developments in the region, and their policy implications for the US and its regional partners.
Since establishing the Centre in 2014, Professor Flake has worked to build stronger international relationships between Australia, the US and the broader Indo-Pacific. He has led the growth of several major international conferences in Australia and the region; and established a range of high-level diplomatic and policy dialogues on issues of shared concern for the Indo-Pacific.
Professor Flake is a sought-after media commentator, particularly on strategic developments in the Indo-Pacific and change order issues to do with US politics and foreign policy. His work has appeared in many leading international outlets, including the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, as well as across the Australian media landscape.
Professor Flake holds a number of strategic leadership roles. He is a Governor of the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia (AmCham) and serves on the board of the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He is a member of the Australian “Friends of Vietnam” group, Co-Chair of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea and a member of the international advisory board of the David M. Kennedy Centre at Brigham Young University.
Prior to joining the Centre, he was the Executive Director of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, an Associate Director of the Program on Conflict Resolution at The Atlantic Council of the United States, and Director for Research and Academic Affairs at the Korea Economic Institute of America.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Korean) and Master of Arts (International and Area Studies) from Brigham Young University. He speaks both fluent Korean and Laotian.
Dr Michael J. Green
Dr Michael Jonathan Green is Chief Executive Officer of the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.
Previously Dr Green was senior vice president for Asia, Japan Chair, and Henry A. Kissinger Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and director of Asian Studies and Chair in Modern and Contemporary Japanese Politics and Foreign Policy at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He served on the staff of the National Security Council (NSC) from 2001 through 2005, first as director for Asian affairs with responsibility for Japan, Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, and then as special assistant to the president for national security affairs and senior director for Asia, with responsibility for East Asia and South Asia. Before joining the NSC staff, he was a senior fellow for East Asian security at the Council on Foreign Relations, director of the Edwin O. Reischauer Center and the Foreign Policy Institute and assistant professor at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University, research staff member at the Institute for Defense Analyses, and senior adviser on Asia in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He also worked in Japan on the staff of a member of the National Diet.
Dr Green is also non-resident senior advisor and Kissinger Chair with CSIS and a distinguished scholar at the Asia Pacific Institute in Tokyo. He serves as a trustee at the Asia Foundation and senior adviser at the Asia Group. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Aspen Strategy Group, the Radio Free Asia Board, the Center for a New American Security Advisory Board, and the editorial boards of the Washington Quarterly and the Journal of Unification Studies in Korea.
Dr Green has authored numerous books and articles on East Asian security, including most recently, By More Than Providence: Grand Strategy and American Power in the Asia Pacific Since 1783 (Columbia University Press, 2017) and Line of Advantage: Japan’s Grand Strategy in the Era of Abe Shinzō (Columbia University Press, 2022). He received his master’s and doctoral degrees from SAIS and did additional graduate and postgraduate research at Tokyo University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received his bachelor’s degree in history from Kenyon College with highest honours. He holds a black belt in Iaido (sword) and has won international prizes on the great highland bagpipe.
Dr Lynn Kuok
Dr Lynn Kuok brings with her a highly successful career in international relations and law, having held fellowships at Brookings Institution, Yale Law School, Harvard Law School, the Harvard Kennedy School, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and the Centre for International Law at the National University of Singapore. She is Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Asia-Pacific Security at International Institute for Strategic Studies, a visiting professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and a senior research fellow at the University of Cambridge. She has also taught at the US Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute and the Australian War College.
Leila Smith
Leila Smith is Chair of the American Australian Association Limited, Vice Chair of the American Australian Association Inc. and Director of the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.
Leila is a Wiradjuri woman with over 18 years’ experience in supporting organizational change and policy reform in the not-for-profit sector, professional services, research, and academia.
As a highly effective people-leader she has both roll-up-your-sleeves and strategic expertise across education, health, social services, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs. She is the CEO of the Aurora Education Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that supports Indigenous students to realise their full education and employment potential.
Prior to Aurora, Leila led the Knowledge Translation team at Australia’s national Indigenous health research organization, the Lowitja Institute. She was also one of the first Indigenous Australians to join a major management consulting firm, Nous Group where she specialized in federal government strategy and change projects for three years.
Prior to working in the private sector, Leila completed a Masters of Public Policy at Cambridge University, after leading the Policy and Programs team at the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association and working in data analysis and research roles at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
She also led the establishment of the first National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Data Archive and co-authored books and publications at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.
Rebecca Tomkinson
Rebecca Tomkinson joins the board with considerable business experience in strategic and executive positions across both private and not-for-profit sectors. After leaving the WA Royal Flying Doctor Service in 2022, she became the first woman to serve as the CEO of the WA Chamber of Minerals and Energy in its history. Representing several of WA’s largest resource companies, Rebecca is deeply committed to advocating the importance of Western Australia.
Fellows
Our fellows are a cross-disciplinary team with high-level expertise on Indo-Pacific issues.
Paul Holland
Mr Paul Holland is an experienced government relations adviser working in the resources sector. Based in Canberra, he worked with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for 16 years, providing geopolitical advice to government on Australia’s national interests in the Pacific, South Asia and Europe. Paul completed overseas postings in Fiji, Afghanistan and most recently France, working with European partners on key strategic and emerging policy issues for Australia.
A Ballardong Noongar from Perth’s foothills, Paul holds a Bachelor of Security Analysis with a minor in Indonesian language from the Australian National University and a Graduate Certificate in Technology Management from the University of New South Wales (UNSW). He is currently a Master of Business Administration candidate with the Australian Graduate School of Management at UNSW and has completed the Oxford Executive Leadership Program with Oxford University. Paul is also a member of the Business Council of Australia’s Indigenous Leadership Group.
Dr Ella Prihatini
Dr Ella Prihatini is a recognised expert on gender and electoral politics in Indonesia. She serves as a visiting researcher at Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional) and an honorary research fellow at the University of Western Australia (UWA).
Ella was a teaching fellow at UWA from 2017 to 2019 and a lecturer in the Department of International Relations at Binus University (2020-2023) and President University (2013-2015). She has also developed over 10 years of experience in journalism, working in countries including Japan, Australia, Qatar, and the UK. One of her key achievements is exclusively interviewing President Hamad Karzai of Afghanistan during the commemoration of the Asia Africa Summit in Jakarta, 2005.
Her research interests focus on women’s political representation, digital diplomacy, young voters, comparative studies, and electoral politics in Indonesia. She has developed the Indonesian Ambassadors Dataset (WWW.DATADUBES.COM) which provides data including gender and background.
Dr Prihatini has been extensively published in both prominent journals (Contemporary Politics, Women’s Studies International Forum, Politics and Gender, Parliamentary Affairs) and the popular press, including The Jakarta Post, South China Morning Post, SBS Australia, and The Conversation. She was named one of Australia’s Top 40 Researchers in a special ‘Stars of Research’ report published by The Australian in September 2019.
Dr Prihatini received her PhD in political science and international relations from the University.
Dr Premesha Saha
Dr Premesha Saha specialises in Indian foreign policy and maritime security dynamics in Southeast Asia.
She is currently a Fellow with the Observer Research Foundation’s Strategic Studies Programme. Her research focuses on Southeast Asia, East Asia, Oceania and the emerging dynamics of the Indo-Pacific region. Dr Saha’s other research interests include: Indonesia’s maritime strategy, India and Southeast Asia, India’s Act East Policy, and Asia-Pacific multilateralism.
Previously she has been an Associate Fellow at the National Maritime Foundation; Indo-Pacific Security Studies Fellow sponsored by the US State Department at Daniel K. Inouye Asia Pacific Centre for Security Studies, Honululu, Hawaii; Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Jakarta; Visiting Fellow at Lemabaga Ilmu Pengetahuan (LIPI) Jakarta; and Darmasiswa Scholar sponsored by the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture at Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya, Jakarta.
Dr Saha completed her PhD at the Centre of Indo-Pacific Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. Her PhD thesis is titled, ‘Indonesia’s Maritime strategy in the Indian Ocean.’
She has published extensively in peer reviewed journals like Maritime Affairs, The Indonesia Quarterly, The Defence Security Brief, Journal of the Indian Ocean Region, The Washington Quarterly and newspapers and magazines such as The Jakarta Post, The Hindu, The Foreign Policy, Australian Financial Review, The Economic Times, The Hindustan Times, and Firstpost. She has also published chapters in edited books published by Pentagon Press, Harper Collins.
Yuma Osaki
Dr Yuma Osaki is an expert on Indo-Pacific geo-economics and trade.
He is currently an assistant professor at the Department of Political Science, Doshisha University in Kyoto.
He broadly works on the developments in Asian economic diplomacy and examines their implications in relation to the (re)shaping of regional and international economic order. His recent contributions to the field examine various economic statecraft, including Indo-Pacific geo-economics, and the evolving Australia-Japan relationships, ASEAN member states’ perspectives on free trade commitment, Japan’s pivotal role in the East Asian regional economic integration, etc. Most recently, he investigated the state of Japan’s Hydrogen policy and its impact on the conventional industry. He has widely presented these topics to academic and popular audiences.
Yuma received a PhD in Political Science from Doshisha University. He has also been enrolled at the Crawford School of Public Policy of the Australian National University, pursuing another PhD in political science and international relations. He holds an M.A. from Doshisha University in comparative political studies, an LL.M. from the University of Sheffield, and a B.A. from Waseda University in global political economy. Prior to commencing his graduate studies, Yuma worked for Marubeni Research Institute as an analyst. In 2019, he joined the Australia-Japan Youth Dialogue as an Organising Committee Member.
Dr Nguyen Linh Dan
Dr Nguyen Linh Dan is a green energy and sustainable development expert.
She is currently a lecturer at the Department of Industrial Economics, Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST).
Before joining HUST in late 2020, Dr Nguyen spent four years at the Asia Pacific Energy Research Centre (APERC), a research institution for the APEC Energy Working Group based in Tokyo. She was part of the renewable energy team, involved in energy demand and supply projection, bioenergy and low-carbon policy research. She was also the project coordinator for the Low Carbon Model Town of the APEC region and a representative of APERC at the APEC Expert Group on New and Renewable Energy (EGNRET). In 2008, she served as a project appraisal specialist at the Viet Nam Environmental Protection Fund.
Dr Nguyen attained her bachelor’s degree from the National Economics University, majoring in environmental economics and management. She received a master’s degree and then a PhD in Sustainability Science from The University of Tokyo, Japan. Her research interests include cost-benefit analysis, energy planning, energy policy and sustainable development management.
Born in Ha Noi, Dan is a native speaker of Vietnamese, and also speaks English and Japanese.
Professor Jina Kim
Professor Jina Kim is a recognised authority on security dynamics in the Korean Peninsula.
She is Dean of Language and Diplomacy Division at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. Previously, she was Chief of the North Korean Military Division at Korea Institute for Defense Analyses and Adjunct Professor at Yonsei Graduate School of International Studies.
She is on multiple advisory boards for the Republic of Korea Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of National Unification, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force, Seoul Metropolitan Government, and Peaceful Unification Advisory Council. She also served as a member of the advisory board for the Blue House National Security Office, US-ROK Combined Forces Command, and Policy Evaluation Committee for the Prime Minister’s Office.
Widely published, she authored North Korean Nuclear Weapons Crisis (Palgrave McMillan 2014), US Policy toward North Korea: Change for the Future (KIDA 2022), and Cooperative Threat Reduction and the Korean Peninsula (KIDA 2020) and has co-authored many books including Handbook of Europe-Korea Relations (Routledge 2021) and The Sheathed Sword (Bloomsbury 2022).
She has published more than 50 monographs and articles in academic journals such as The Washington Quarterly, Survival, International Spectator, Journal of International Relations, Korean Journal of Defense Analysis, and others.
Professor Kim holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, and an MA in International Studies from Yonsei Graduate School of International Studies.
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is the former president of the Republic of Indonesia and is a Distinguished Fellow at the Perth USAsia Centre, based at The University of Western Australia.
Dr. Yudhoyono was the Republic of Indonesia’s sixth president and the country’s first directly elected president - entering office in 2004 and serving two consecutive five-year terms. He left office in October 2014.
Dr. Yudhoyono has a Master’s Degree in Management from Webster University in the United States, a Doctorate Degree in Agricultural Economics from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture. He also attended the US Army Command and General Staff College.
The recipient of many international awards, Dr. Yudhoyono was named by the United Nations as a “Global Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction” in 2011 for his efforts to make disaster risk reduction a national priority after the Boxing Day tsunami hit Indonesia in 2004. In 2010, Dr. Yudhoyono became the fifth visiting head of state to address both houses of Australian Parliament.
The Honourable Kim Beazley AC
The Honourable Kim Beazley AC was the 33rd Governor of Western Australia (2018-2022).
Prior to being installed as Governor, Mr Beazley dedicated almost three decades to a career in Federal Parliament, representing the WA seats of Brand and Swan.
In 2009, Mr Beazley was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia for service to the Parliament of Australia through contributions to the development of government policies in relation to defence and international relations, and as an advocate for Indigenous people, and to the community.
Mr Beazley was born in Perth, Western Australia. He completed a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts at the University of Western Australia. In 1973, he was awarded the Rhodes Scholarship for Western Australia and completed a Masters of Philosophy at Oxford University.
Mr Beazley was a Minister in the Hawke and Keating Labor Governments (1983-1996) holding, at various times, the portfolios of Defence, Finance, Transport and Communications, Employment Education and Training, Aviation, and Special Minister of State.
From 1995 to 1996, Mr Beazley was Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1996 to 2001, and 2005 to 2006. Mr Beazley served on parliamentary committees, including the Joint Intelligence Committee and the Joint Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee.
After his retirement from politics in 2007, Mr Beazley was appointed Winthrop Professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations at The University of Western Australia.
In July 2008 he was appointed Chancellor of the Australian National University, a position he held until December 2009.
Mr Beazley took up an appointment as Ambassador to the United States of America in February 2010. He served as Ambassador until January 2016.
Mr Beazley is currently Chair of the Perth USAsia Centre Board, Board Member of Luerssen Australia, Senior Distinguished Fellow of the Australian Strategic Policy Intitute, Advisor to Lockheed Martin Australia, Chair of the Council for the Australian War Memorial and Advisor to TG & Associates.
Peter Varghese AO
Peter Varghese AO is Chancellor of The University of Queensland and a Distinguished Fellow at the Perth USAsia Centre. Prior to his appointment as Chancellor in 2016, Mr Varghese’s extensive career in public service and diplomacy spanned 38 years and included senior positions in foreign affairs, trade policy and intelligence.
Most recently, he served as Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2012-2016). Previous senior appointments included High Commissioner to India (2009-2012), High Commissioner to Malaysia (2000-2002), Director-General of the Office of National Assessments (2004-2009), and Senior Advisor (International) to the Prime Minister of Australia (2003-2004). Mr Varghese was the author of a comprehensive India Economic Strategy to 2035 commissioned by the Australian Prime Minister and submitted in July 2018.
Mr Varghese was educated at The University of Queensland, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours and a University Medal in history in 1978. He was appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO) in 2010 and received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from The University of Queensland in 2013.
Mr Varghese took up Chair of the Asialink Council in February 2021 and sits on the boards of CARE Australia and North Queensland Airports. He is also on the international governing board of the Rajaratnum School of International Studies in Singapore. He was awarded the Sir Edward “Weary” Dunlop Asialink Medal in 2019 in recognition of outstanding contributions to improving Australia-Asia relations.
ARRC
The Audit, Risk & Remuneration Committee assists the board in the effective discharge of its responsibilities under applicable legislation.
Geoff Lotter
Geoff is a Chartered Accountant (FCA) and retired audit partner, with 40 years professional experience providing assurance services to a large variety of businesses, across various industry sectors in both Australia & South Africa. Geoff’s expertise includes external audit, due diligence, independent accountant reports and US PCAOB reporting.
Geoff is currently Chair of the Audit & Risk Management Committee of the WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation & Attractions, a director of Housing Choices (WA), and treasurer of the Cycling Development Foundation.
Deidre Willmott
Deidre Willmott is an experienced non-executive director and executive.
She is a non-executive director of Australia Post, where she chairs the People & Sustainability Committee, Chief Executive Women, where she chairs the Scholarships Committee, and Rock Art Australia. She is a member of the Melbourne School of Government Advisory Board and Kearney ANZ Advisory Group.
Her previous executive roles include Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Commerce & Industry WA, Director External Relations at Fortescue Metals Group, General Manager at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games and Chief of Staff to the Premier of Western Australia.
Ms Willmott attended UWA where she graduated in law and the University of Melbourne where she completed a Master of Laws. She worked in law in Perth and London.