The free trade deal with Indonesia is finally done, which opens up a huge long-term market for education and training providers. That’s long as in long-long-term with no apparent immediate prospects.

The deal allows majority Australian ownership, “for supplying certain technical and vocational training,” but as for higher education, the agreement, “automatically locks in future liberalisation for Australian universities setting up in Indonesia – Indonesia intends to open its higher education sector further in the future.”  This might be harder than it looks, as Indonesian providers are not keen on off-shore competition,

Still, it’s a start, and welcomed by the Group of Eight, which has pushed for bi-lateral education access. “This will pave the way for talented Indonesian students to access high-quality Australian education,” Go8 CEO Vicki Thomson said yesterday.

Next steps, the Eight suggest include; revisions to the accreditation framework to cover on-line study and streamlining visas.