Faculty of Asian Studies, The Australian National University

Ni sa bula vinaka, Talofa tele lava, Malo e lelei, Kam na mauri, Kia ora, Namaste, Bonjour, Halo olgeta, Gude and Welcome to Pasifika Australia!

Pasifika Australia is an ongoing initiative of The Australian National University, designed to celebrate, engage with, and foster a deeper understanding of Pacific Islander communities in Australia.

What is Pasifika Australia?

We are a group of ANU students and staff who are passionate about equity and identity issues affecting Pacific Islander communities in Australia, and who value culture and education as pathways to addressing these issues. Many of us are Pacific Islanders, and all of us are a part of Oceania.

Pasifika Australia began in 2008. Information on our past activities can be found below.

Pasifika Australia is supported by the ANU's Pacific Studies Program.

What's new?

• Photos from our 2009 Workshop are now online.

Photo Gallery 
Pasifika Australia facebook group

• 2009 Newsletter
• On Campus article about our 2009 Workshop

Becoming Part of Pasifika Australia

• Join the Pasifika Australia facebook group.
• Check out our 2008 Youtube Channel
• To Join the Pasifika Australia e-mail list, or get involved with the co-ordination of Pasifika Australia, e-mail Ed at Edward.Boydell[at]anu.edu.au or Liz at Elizabeth.Comrie-Thomson[at]anu.edu.au.
• In high school? Join our annual weekend workshop program.

Our Activities and Events

For more information about current and past Pasifika Australia events, please contact Liz at Elizabeth.Comrie-Thomson[at]anu.edu.au or Ed at Edward.Boydell[at]anu.edu.au.

Annual Pasifika Australia Workshop

In October 2009, High school and college students of Pacific Islander descent spent three days at ANU to get a taste of university life with a Pacific flavour. They were part of the second annual workshop organised by Pasifika Australia, a network of ANU students and staff who are passionate about identity and equity issues affecting Pacific Island communities in Australia. The thirty young people from across ACT and NSW arrived at ANU on the 2nd of October, and attended a series of lectures and panels that introduced them to Pacific Studies and Climate and Water issues in the Pacific. They went on to visit the Vaka Moana Exhibition at the National Museum of Australia. But the highlight for many of students was their time at the campus of Kioloa.

They spent the weekend working together to combine their own stories with themes from the ANU lectures in a series of creative workshops and performances. Their efforts were supported by ANU undergraduate student mentors and ANU Pacific Islander staff.

The workshop was made possible by the kind and generous support of an ANU Equity Support Grant, the Pacific Studies Program in the Faculty of Asian Studies, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, The Asia-Pacific Learning Community and Bruce Hall. Special thanks go to all of our guest speakers and student mentors, the South West Youth Peer Education and Malaemie Fruean of the NSW Council for Pacific Communities, as well as Ena Tupa’i for nominating young people to attend.

Hear what the students had to say about their experiences

• 2009 Workshop Report. New
• 2008 Workshop Report.

Check out the pictures

• 2009 Photo Gallery. New

The Pacific Studies workshop gives school students of Pacific Island heritage a taste of the opportunities available to study the Pacific at university level, as well as introducing students to university life more generally. Workshop participants are encouraged to draw on their own cultures, heritages, and identities to explore Oceania. The workshop focuses on young people's Pacific Island cultures and identities as a valuable asset, which can enrich and be further explored through university study.

The workshop is open to school students in Years 10-12 from the ACT and NSW region, who are of Pacific Island descent. It is run over three days, beginning at ANU's main campus in Canberra and relocating to the university's coastal campus at Kioloa, on the South Coast of NSW. The first day of the workshop introduces participants to university life through mini-lectures about the Pacific, as well as meetings with university staff and students. The remaining days at Kioloa are filled with a series of creative sessions on Pacific art, song and dance. Participants work together to create a collaborative, creative presentation which draws together their experiences from the workshop.

The workshop is an opportunity for young people of Pacific Island heritage to build connections, celebrate diversity, exchange knowledge - and have fun! The Pacific Studies workshop is an intense intellectual and social experience.

Community and Academic Activities

Monday 11 May 2009:‘Oceanic Snapshots’
Bruce Hall, the Australian National University

Speakers included

• Valerie Bichard - Pacific Studies Program
• Siosiua Lafitani-Tofua'ipangai - Nuama
• Ian White - Fenner School of Environment and Society
• Lanieta Rauqeuqe - Crawford School of Economics and Government

‘Oceanic Snapshots’ featured several brief speeches, where a range of individuals explain their connection with the Pacific. Over light dinner, each of these ‘snapshots’ provided stimulus for open, informal group discussions. All participants were be encouraged to express their own ideas and points of view through a series of collaborative activities.

This event was a chance for people who are connected with the Pacific to share and compare their diverse insights and perspectives. It will also provided an opportunity to strengthen links between different sources of knowledge about Oceania and Pacific issues, and to break down the artificial divide between ‘academic’ and ‘community’ perspectives.

Wednesday August 20 2008: High Table dinner at Bruce Hall, ANU

This formal dinner was focused on community and development projects, both in the Pacific and in Pacific Islander communities in Australia. Speakers and topics included:

• Prof Kent Anderson (Director, Faculty of Asian Studies) - the relevance of Pasifika Australia
• Ashwin Raj - the importance of Pacific Studies
• Elaine Elemani - networks for Pacific Islander communities in NSW and the ACT
• Kesaya Baba - development projects in Fiji
• Kacey Lam - development work in the Solomon Islands

Thank you to everyone who made this dinner such a success.

Thursday October 30 2008: ANU Fun Day, followed by an evening Community Forum

Dubbed 'the largest island in the Pacific', Australia has been intertwined with the Pacific Islands for thousands of years through trade, kinship, migration, and cultural exchanges. Yet in contemporary Australia this interconnectedness is rarely recognised, and there is little public awareness or appreciation of Pacific Islander cultures and histories.

The public festival aims to celebrate and raise awareness of the depth and diversity of Pacific cultures, and how these cultures form a part of Australian society today. All members of the public, especially those involved with the ANU community, are invited to attend this exciting free event.

Venue: Union Court, ANU

Time: 12:00-3:00pm

Events include: Fijian dancing, Tongan music, kava circle

The evening community forum will focus on achievement in the Pacific Islander community. Community members who have excelled in a range of areas will discuss identity issues, and problems and opportunities they encountered in their various paths to success. Speakers will include Pacific Islander Australians who have achieved highly in the fields of:

• Government
• Education
• Business
• Sport
• The arts
• Community organisation
• Academia

Confirmed to be on the panel (click on name for bio): Cr Mollie Tepane Thomas (Maori), former deputy Mayor of Campbelltown City (NSW); Samataua Sitagata Hanamenn Hunt (Samoan), President of Pan Pacific Oceania Inc. (QLD); Stephen Curnow, President Moorabbin Rugby Union Club (VIC); Seeta Frahm-Jensen, Pacific Islands United (ACT); Jione Havea, United Theological College (NSW); 'Alopi Latukefu (Tongan), Office of the Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs; and Deveni Temu (Papua New Guinean), Pacific Librarian, ANU. The forum will be chaired by Dr. Katerina Teaiwa (Banaban/Fiji Islander), Pacific Studies Convener at the ANU.

This free event is open to all who are interested, particularly school students and members of the ACT Pacific Islander community.

Venue: Law Sparke Helmore Theatre 1, ANU – see location on the ANU campus map

Time: 5:30-8:00pm

Refreshments provided

Click here for Pasifika Australia Forum Program

Friday November 21 - Sunday November 23 2008: Workshop weekend for high school/college students of Pacific Islander descent

Read what participants in our 2008 workshop had to say about their experiences.

There is very little taught in schools and colleges about the Pacific Islands or Oceania. As a result, students do not receive the opportunity to learn about their region, and Pacific Islander students in particular can feel that the education system is disconnected from their cultural heritage. Pasifika Australia draws on the resources of ANU's new undergraduate Pacific Studies program to offer an intensive program of interactive workshops and lectures focused on the Pacific Islands and Pacific identities. Topics covered include:

• Culture
• Geography
• History
• Politics
• Music
• Dance
• Visual arts

The weekend aims to introduce students to university life through a series of mini-lectures on Friday, before relocating to ANU's Kioloa campus on the South Coast for a range of less formal workshops. This weekend is open to school students in Years 10-12, from the ACT and Greater NSW. Food, transport and accommodation costs are covered.

Explore the online Pacific community

• Learn about Oceania with ANU's Pacific Studies Program, which includes many Pacific Studies courses and majors in Pacific Studies and Pacific Languages
• Read Pacific Studies Convener Dr Katerina Teaiwa's article, Ignorance rife about Islander Australians, published in the Canberra Times on 29 October 2007
• Exploring Oceania: online maps and atlases about the Pacific region and its countries
• Pacific Superheroes Worldwide blogging with a passion for the Pacific.
• Pacific Islands Report, which reports daily on news and current events in the region
• Pacific Arts Online, a portal into the rich artistic and cultural diversity of the Pacific region

• Pacific Starmap provides a space for Pacific artists to shar their journeys, and help new and aspiring Pacific artists to navigate the path to success in the arts
• Pacific Regional Environment Program, an intergovernmental organisation which works to protect the region's environment and the welfare of its people
• Pacific Cooperation Foundation, an independent organisation which creates and strengthens networks between the Pacific Islands and New Zealand
• Radio Australia's programs dedicated to the Pacific:
  • Pacific Beat speaks to influential people in the region
  • In the Loop presents the music and voices of the Pacific speaking out about contemporary regional issues, and
  • On the Mat analyses current events in the Pacific.
• PapuaWeb, an information network for anyone working on or interested in Papua, Indonesia
• Islands Business Magazine online, a publication focusing on economic and political issues in the Pacific
• SPASIFIKmag.com, the online version of SPASIFIK Magazine with Pacific orientated content covering music, stories and entertainment
• Tagata Pasifika, a long-running New Zealand TV show about Pacific Islands issues and culture
  • Watch Tagata Pasifika's coverage of the 2005 Culture Moves!, a Pacific dance studies conference organised by Dr Katerina Teaiwa
• Pasifika Poetry Online, a celebration of the poetry and unique perspectives of Pacific peoples
• Pacific Stories, a high-level and detailed guide to the transformation of the Pacific region over the past century, focused on PNG, Bougainville, Vanuatu, French Polynesia and Tonga
• Further Pacific internet resources, compiled by ANU: a comprehensive list of links to Australian, Pacific, regional and international resources
• Pacific Studies WWW Virtual Library, maintained by Dr Matthew Ciolek, part of the World-Wide Web Virtual Library

Pasifika Australia 2009 Newsletter

Download the Pasifika Australia 2009 Newsletter.

Pasifika Australia is organised by ANU students and staff. The program is supported by an ANU Equity Grant, the ANU Learning Communities project, Bruce Hall, the Pacific Studies Program in the Faculty of Asian Studies, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, and the ANU Students' Association. All photos by Alison Fleming and Katerina Teaiwa unless otherwise attributed. Pasifika Australia symbol by Alison Fleming