The New Colombo Plan (NCP) is an Australian Government initiative that provides opportunities for Australian undergraduate university students to develop their Indo-Pacific capability and Asia literacy through immersive, structured learning and internships in the Indo-Pacific region.
Since the program commenced in 2014, over 55,000 Australian students from 41 Australian universities have participated in NCP study programs, language training, internships and research across 40 host locations in the region.
To ensure the next phase of the NCP helps to deliver on Australia's strategic objectives, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Penny Wong, announced on 30 July 2025 a series of reforms to the program to strengthen the Indo-Pacific capability and Asia literacy of Australians.
From the 2026 round onwards, the NCP will have a greater emphasis on participants learning Asian languages and undertaking longer-term immersive experiences in the Indo-Pacific. It will continue to foster deeper people-to-people and education relationships, and increase Australia's economic engagement with the region by supporting NCP participants to build job-ready skills, and supporting NCP alumni to maintain their ties to the Indo-Pacific.
The new structure of the program will involve three programs:
- The NCP Scholarships Program which will support Australian undergraduate students to strengthen their Indo-Pacific capability and Asia literacy including through study, language learning and internships, through programs up to 19 months
- The NCP Semester Program which will leverage Australian universities' partnership arrangements to support one-to-two semester length experiences for students to develop Indo-Pacific capability, including language learning and credit-bearing internships
- The NCP Mobility Program which will focus on short-term, credit-bearing experiences of four-to-nine weeks to develop Indo-Pacific capability that may include structured learning, internships, mentorships, practicums, and/or research.
The reforms include:
- increasing the number of NCP scholarships to 500 per year by 2028, creating a larger cohort of students with deeper Indo-Pacific capability
- introducing a language learning target across all streams, set at 15 per cent in 2026, and increasing to 25 per cent of participants undertaking language-focused programs by 2028
- weighted selection criteria to increase the update of NCP opportunities in priority languages, host locations and sectors aligned with Australian Government priorities, including as outlined in Invested: Australia's Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040 and A New Roadmap for Australia's Economic Engagement with India (these priorities will be reviewed annually)
- clearer arrangements to support university consortia to participate in the NCP
- strengthening business engagement under the program, from scholar selection through to ongoing alumni networking and engagement
- providing greater program support funding to Australian universities to support the development of Indo-Pacific capability and priority Asian language course offerings
- leveraging the Australian transnational education presence in the Indo-Pacific, allowing for NCP programs to be undertaken at Australian offshore campuses in the region where participants will have a genuinely immersive experience.
These reforms have been informed by recommendations of the NCP External Advisory Group, convened in 2024 by the Australian Government to consult relevant stakeholders and co-design the next phase of the program.