Submission to the Inquiry into Building Asia Capability Through the Education System in Australia and Beyond - By Dr Gary Bonar (Monash University)

This submission draws on research in language teacher education and multilingualism to examine how student voice and teacher agency contribute to building Asia capability across Australia’s education system. It identifies key challenges such as declining language enrolments and fragmented policy implementation, and proposes measures for systemic alignment — including national coordination, stronger recognition of multilingual expertise, and the integration of Asia-related learning across curricula and teacher education.