Australia Supports Reinforcing Inclusive Development in Indonesia

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta – The Australian Government has reaffirmed its support for the Indonesian Government’s efforts to strengthen development that is inclusive, participatory, and responsive to the needs of the people.

The First Secretary for Governance and Human Development at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, Elena Martin Avilla, conveyed the support, during the Dissemination of the Baseline Study on Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration for Gender Mainstreaming and Social Inclusion. The event was held at the Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Monday, May 25, 2026.

Elena said the Australian Government appreciated Indonesia’s strong commitment to ensuring that development benefits all groups in society. According to her, inclusive development must provide space for women, persons with disabilities, children, older persons, and other vulnerable groups to participate meaningfully.

“The Australian Government appreciates the strong commitment of the Indonesian Government in promoting development that is inclusive, participatory, and responsive to the needs of all people, including women, persons with disabilities, children, older persons, and other vulnerable groups,” Elena said, quoted from infopublik.

She explained that inclusive development is not only about policies on paper. More than that, development must ensure that every person has an equal opportunity to be involved in decision-making processes, especially decisions that directly affect their lives.

Therefore, Elena said collaboration is key. The government, civil society organizations, academics, communities, and development partners need to work together so that social inclusion policies can be implemented more effectively, both at the national and regional levels.

“Through the SKALA Program, an Australia-Indonesia partnership for accelerating basic services, we support the Indonesian Government in strengthening governance and the delivery of inclusive basic services at both the national and regional levels,” Elena said.

In addition to the SKALA Program, Australia also supports cooperation between the government and civil society organizations through the INKLUSI Program. The program aims to strengthen the fulfillment of the rights of vulnerable groups, including ensuring that equal rights for persons with disabilities are truly realized in practice.

Elena said the baseline study disseminated during the event provided important input in identifying opportunities and challenges in strengthening participation, coordination, and more inclusive development policies.

“These two programs complement each other. The study results disseminated today are an important contribution to our joint efforts to strengthen gender mainstreaming, disability inclusion, and social inclusion in Indonesia,” she said.

She expressed hope that the study results could serve as an instrument to strengthen strategic multi-stakeholder partnerships. In this way, development planning and implementation in Indonesia can become more open, equitable, and able to reach all levels of society.