Australia-Indonesia Institute Board Members

Emeritus Professor Greg Fealy AM (Board Chair)

Emeritus Professor Fealy teaches at the College of Asia and Pacific at the Australian National University in the School of Culture, History and Language and the School of International, Political and Strategic Studies. Emeritus Professor Fealy was appointed Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for services to tertiary education and Australia-Indonesia relations in 2021. He researches Indonesian politics, modern Islamic political history, democratisation, Islamism and jihadist ideology and strategy. Emeritus Professor Fealy also regularly advises governments, international organisations and businesses on Indonesia and Islam in Indonesia.

He has previously lectured in Indonesian politics at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC and at Monash University. Emeritus Professor Fealy was formerly an Indonesia analyst with the Australian Government.

Ms Lydia Santoso

Ms Santoso is a senior associate at Nicholas George Lawyers and the former President of the NSW chapter of the Australia Indonesia Business Council. She is an Australian qualified lawyer and Public Notary. Ms Santoso has Indonesian-Australian heritage, is fluent in Indonesian and has worked in law firms in Sydney and Jakarta. She has extensive connections to the Indonesian business community in Sydney, including the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia, Indonesian property developers, Australian businesses with interests in Indonesia and many Indonesians living in Australia.

Ms Elena Williams

Ms Williams is a higher education consultant with over ten years' experience living and working in Indonesia. Between 2013 – 2017 she served as the Resident Director for The Australian Consortium for 'In-Country' Indonesian Studies (ACICIS), a not-for-profit organisation facilitating study programs for undergraduate students in Indonesia. In 2020 she commenced doctoral research at The Australian National University examining the long-term impact of DFAT's New Colombo Plan and other education initiatives on the Australia-Indonesia relationship.

Ms Williams holds a Masters of Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development from The Australian National University, and an Honours degree in Indonesian Studies from The University of Sydney. She regularly volunteers as an 'Asian Literacy Ambassador' with the Asia Education Foundation, a mentor with the Australia-Indonesia Youth Association, and is an alumni of the Australia-Indonesia Youth Exchange Program.

Professor Nicholas Anstey

Professor Anstey is a medical doctor and tropical disease researcher at Darwin’s Menzies School of Health Research. He led a multi-centre malaria clinical trial in collaboration with counterparts in Indonesia, Malaysia and across the Asia-Pacific and Africa. This trial established for the first time that artesunate, derived from the herb wormwood, is more effective than quinine in saving lives of patients with severe malaria.

Professor Anstey has held a number of grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), and in 2009 was named one of the NHMRC’s ‘Ten of the Best’.

Ms Noni Purnomo

Ms Purnomo is the President Director (CEO) of the Blue Bird Group focusing on corporate strategy, public relations, communications, business process improvements, quality control, marketing, and information technology. Ms Purnomo is also President of Blue Bird Peduli, a philanthropic division of the Blue Bird Group which launched the 'Women Empowerment Project'. Ms Purnomo was voted as one of 2015’s Power Business Women in Asia by Forbes Asia.

Ms Purnomo has a Bachelor of Engineering Degree and a Master of Business Administration in Finance and Marketing.

Ms Armina Rosenberg

Ms Rosenberg is Portfolio Manager at Grok Ventures. She oversees the global equities portfolio and analyses derivatives, fixed income, infrastructure and venture capital investments. Prior to Grok, she was Senior Investment Director at Audant Investments and spent eight years at J.P. Morgan.

Ms Rosenberg was awarded the Co-op Scholarship at the University of New South Wales and undertook industry placements at ASX, Commsec, ABN Amro and UBS while completing her honours degree in Finance. Throughout her career, Ms Rosenberg has been an advocate for diversity and was a key member of the J.P. Morgan Women's Interactive Network and the J.P. Morgan Diversity Council. More recently, she founded ‘The FOLD’, a networking group for women in investment roles at family offices.

Ms Franchesca Cubillo

Originating from Darwin, Ms Cubillo is a proud Yanuwa, Larrakia, Bardi, and Wardaman woman from the ‘Top End’ region of Australia. Ms Cubillo is the Executive Director First Nations Arts and Culture at the Australia Council for the Arts, and has more than 30 years’ experience in the museum and art gallery sector.

Ms Cubillo is the inaugural Chair of the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair Foundation, the inaugural co-Chair of the National Aboriginal Art Gallery, Alice Springs, and has held numerous board and committee positions. She has worked for national institutions throughout Australia, including the South Australian Museum, National Museum of Australia, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, and more recently the National Gallery of Australia. 

Ms Cubillo is a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellow. She has published extensively and presented lectures and keynote addresses on subjects such as the repatriation of Australian Indigenous ancestral remains, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and culture and Australian Indigenous museology and curatorship.

Ms Amanda Hodge

Ms Hodge is the Southeast Asia correspondent for The Australian newspaper. Ms Hodge is a career journalist who has lived and worked in Asia as a foreign correspondent for 13 years, based in New Delhi, India, and now Jakarta, Indonesia.

Ms Hodge has extensive experience covering news and current affairs across South and Southeast Asia, and has developed deep knowledge and extensive contacts throughout both regions in government, academia and civil society. She is a Walkley Award winner for international reporting, winner of the 2021 Lowy Institute Media Award and a recipient of the UN Peace Award.

Ms Michelle Chan (ex-officio)

Ms Chan is the Deputy Secretary, Southeast Asia and Global Partners Group, in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. She is Australia’s ASEAN, East Asia Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum Senior Official.

Ms Chan has extensive experience in foreign policy, diplomacy, national security and intelligence, with a focus on the Indo-Pacific region. Prior to assuming her current role, Ms Chan was the Deputy Secretary National Security and International Policy in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and was the National Security Adviser and Senior International Adviser to the Prime Minister.

From 2016 to 2018, she was Deputy Director-General of the Office of National Assessments (ONA, now ONI), Australia’s peak intelligence assessments agency. Ms Chan’s earlier roles include ONA’s Assistant Director-General for Southeast Asia (2011-13) and DFAT’s Assistant Secretary responsible for Indonesia, ASEAN and Timor-Leste (2006-07). She served overseas as Australian Ambassador to Myanmar (2008-11), with earlier postings in Indonesia (Counsellor (Political) then Minister-Counsellor (Political/Economic), 2002-05), Vietnam and Cambodia.

Ms Chan has a Bachelor of Arts (Juris) and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Adelaide, and a Master of Arts and a Master of Laws (International Law) from the Australian National University.