Devianti Faridz, an experienced reporter, anchor and producer with Metro TV in Jakarta, recently spent three weeks in Australia as a recipient of the Elizabeth O'Neill Journalism Award. The Department's Public Diplomacy Branch organised an intensive program for Ms Faridz in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane, where she conducted interviews for a number of short stories exploring the Australia-Indonesia relationship which will air on Metro TV over the coming months.

The Elizabeth O'Neill Journalism Award is in memory of Liz O'Neill, the Public Affairs Counsellor at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta who died tragically on duty on 7 March 2007 in a plane crash in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The Award is sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australia-Indonesia Institute and is conferred annually on one Australian and one Indonesian journalist. The Public Diplomacy Branch manages a rigorous selection process to ensure the highest quality recipients. Those selected spend up to three weeks in each other's country meeting and interviewing a broad range of people to build a stronger understanding and appreciation of the issues facing contemporary Indonesia and Australia.

Devianti interviewing Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Senator Bob Carr.