Australia Global Alumni Engagement Strategy
More than 2.5 million international students have studied in Australia in the last fifty years. These international students and the talented Australians who study overseas, including through the New Colombo Plan, make up Australia’s Global Alumni Community.
Australia’s global alumni are highly talented, globally mobile and empowered by a world class Australian education. They are current and future leaders, influencers and change-makers. Individually and collectively, Australia’s global alumni are helping to shape the world around them.
That’s why we’ve been working in partnership with Australian universities and other education institutions to develop the whole of government Australia Global Alumni Engagement Strategy.
The Strategy is a public diplomacy initiative that builds on the success of our past international education programs and seeks to unlock the full potential of Australia’s Global Alumni community.
Our mission is to foster a global alumni community that actively engages and promotes Australia and advances our national interests, especially in the Indo-Pacific region.
The Strategy aims to leverage the prestige, access and reach of Australia’s global diplomatic network to:
- Connect alumni to each other and to Australia
- Mobilise engagement with alumni, and
- Celebrate the achievements of alumni and their two-way links with Australia.
The Australia Global Alumni Engagement Strategy was launched alongside the National Strategy for International Education and the Australian International Education 2025 Market Development Roadmap.
Australia Global Alumni website and LinkedIn community
To support the Strategy, we have developed interactive, online communities through the Australia Global Alumni website and LinkedIn.
These online platforms will engage with our global alumni innovatively in the digital space and are key tools to keep alumni connected with Australia over the longer term.
These online communities will allow Australia’s global alumni to easily engage with each other and build local, regional and global professional and social links. We will use these platforms to showcase and celebrate the achievements of Australia's alumni, and provide them with access to local events and news stories and articles on different topics.
Australian by Degree
To celebrate alumni under the Australian Global Alumni Strategy, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has launched a new video profile series, Australian by Degree.
The Australian by Degree – Australian Global Alumni video profile series is the result of a new partnership between the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) International Television.
The video profile series captures the inspirational first-person stories of successful alumni from the Indo-Pacific and Africa who are now making a positive difference back in their home countries.