Parliamentary report calls for national rebuild of Australia’s Asia capability

For immediate release Friday 3 July 2026

The Australian Academy of the Humanities has welcomed the release of the House Standing Committee on Education and Employment’s report, Security and Prosperity in Asia: Building Australia’s Asia Capability, describing it as a roadmap for rebuilding one of Australia’s most important sovereign capabilities.

The report comes at a critical time. By 2030, Asia is expected to account for around 53 per cent of the world’s population and almost half of global economic output. At the same time, the rules-based international order is under increasing pressure, making Australia’s ability to understand and engage with the countries of Asia more important than ever.

Australia is also one of the world’s most multicultural nations. At the 2021 Census, around 17 per cent of Australians identified as having Asian heritage, reinforcing the importance of language capability, cultural understanding and deep regional expertise as national assets.

Yet the Committee concludes that Australia’s Asia capability is at crisis point. Students engaging in Asian Studies and Asian languages has fallen to its lowest level since 1965, the era of the Menzies Government, leaving Australia less prepared to understand and engage with the region at a time when it matters most.

Academy President Professor Stephen Garton AM FAHA said the report was an important acknowledgement of both the scale of the challenge and the action needed to address it.

“The report is a wake-up call. At a time when Asia is becoming increasingly central to Australia’s future, our national capability to understand the region has been allowed to decline over decades. Rebuilding that capability is now a matter of national importance.”

For more than a decade, the Academy’s evidence has consistently shown that language capability and deep regional expertise are long-term national assets that cannot be rebuilt quickly once lost. Its evidence to the inquiry built on earlier work, including the Academy’s landmark Australia’s China Knowledge Capability report, which documented the erosion of Australia’s specialist knowledge of China and warned of the broader decline in Australia’s Asia capability.

The Committee’s report reflects many of the Academy’s recommendations, including:

• recognising Asia capability, including languages, cultural and regional expertise, as a sovereign national capability;
• recognising the detrimental impact of the Job-ready Graduates reforms on Australia’s sovereign cultural and language capabilities;
• developing a 10-year National Asia Capability Strategy, supported by regular reporting to Parliament;
• establishing a national data framework and dashboard to monitor Australia’s Asia capability;
• recognising Asia capability as a National Science and Research Priority;
• strengthening the role of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC) in monitoring and sustaining national capability;
• developing a National Languages Passport, informed by successful international models;
• introducing stronger school-to-university incentives, including consideration of ATAR bonus schemes for language study; and
• strengthening the role of Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) in embedding Asia capability within Australia’s national skills architecture.

The report also reflects the Academy’s evidence that rebuilding Australia’s Asia capability requires sustained investment across the entire education and research pipeline, from schools and community languages learning through to universities, advanced research and professional careers.

Importantly, the Committee recognises that artificial intelligence cannot substitute for deep cultural knowledge, language capability and specialist regional expertise. Professor Garton said while artificial intelligence would play an increasingly important role, it could not replace the human expertise Australia needs to engage effectively with Asia.

“Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool, but it is no substitute for people with deep language capability, cultural understanding and specialist regional expertise. Australia will continue to need that expertise if we are to engage effectively with Asia.”

Professor Garton said the report provides a clear blueprint for rebuilding Australia’s national capability.

“It is encouraging to see the Committee recognise Asia capability, including languages, cultural and regional expertise, as a sovereign national capability. The report provides a roadmap for rebuilding Australia’s capacity through long-term investment in education, research and specialist expertise.”

“The challenge now is implementation. Rebuilding Australia’s Asia capability will require the Australian Government to commit to a long-term national vision, backed by sustained investment and coordinated action across education, research and governments. The Academy stands ready to contribute its expertise to that task.”

The Academy looks forward to working with governments, universities, schools and partners across Australia to support implementation of the Committee’s recommendations and help rebuild Australia’s long-term Asia capability.

About the Australian Academy of the Humanities

The Australian Academy of the Humanities is one of Australia’s five Learned Academies, established by Royal Charter to advance knowledge and understanding of the humanities. The Academy’s Asian Studies Section includes many of the nation’s leading scholars in Asian languages, cultures, politics, history, and society — including Sinologists, Indonesianists, Japanologists, and scholars of Asian media, linguistics, and philosophy. For more than 50 years, its Fellows have shaped national policy, research and education on Asia capability.

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