New South Wales

New South Wales is home to the largest community of Indonesians in Australia and so it makes a lot of sense for AIYA NSW to be active in engaging the wider community to learn more about our great countries partnership. AIYA NSW was founded in 2012 and is led by an enthusiastic group of young people looking to build greater awareness of another through a range of exciting activities.

contact us

[email protected]

Committee Members

Matthew is an Assistant Development Manager at Landcom, having studied Civil Engineering at USYD. Being Australian-born of Indonesian background, he has a strong interest and passion in what's happening in both countries. In addition, Matthew is always looking for ways to strengthen his own cultural connections within both communities, something which he believes that AIYA is best placed to help grow and facilitate.

Matthew Hasjim

Chapter President

Charlotte is currently finishing her teaching degree at the University of Sydney, specialising in Indonesian and English. During her degree, she participated in an exchange program studying Indonesian language and culture at Universitas Gadjah Mada. Charlotte is interested in strengthening the relationship between Indonesia and Australia. She believes that participating in AIYA provides an opportunity to promote positive engagement between the two countries.

Charlotte Oliver

Vice President

I recently completed a Diploma of Analytics in 2022, and I’m currently working in insurance. I started learning Indonesian back in 2009, and the more I learn about the country, the more I love it. Between AIYEP, ACICIS and a friend's wedding, I’ve spent about 8 months living in different areas of Indonesia, but I’ve only scratched the surface. I found out about AIYA in 2015, and I admire how they connect Indonesians and Australians at the ground level. If I’m not wasting time on a computer, I like playing the piano or hanging out with friends.

Andre Ponniah

Secretary

Rebecca grew up in Sydney and began learning Indonesian in high school. Rebecca's connections with AIYA has kept her language skills going through university, where she is currently studying to be a GP. She loves chatting in Indonesian, meeting new people and eating Indo food. Rebecca looks forward to travelling around Indonesia ae soon as she can!

Rebecca Blackwell-Peek

Treasurer

Henry is an Undergraduate Civil Engineer working at CPB Contractors for Rozelle Interchange. He has a passion for organising events which bring people together through teamwork and communication. Henry stumbled into the Indo-Australian space in early 2022, and has found a great community in the form of AIYA NSW. Ever since, he's been learning bahasa Indonesian on Duolingo!

Henry Zhang

Socia-Cultural Officer

Ericha (Eky) recently finished a Bachelor of International Relations at the Australian National University with a Southeast Asian Studies minor. She is of Indonesian and Australian heritage and holds a deep passion for Indonesian history and culture. Through AIYA, Ericha seeks to expand her knowledge of Southeast Asia, aspiring to strengthen Indonesian literacy and cross-cultural understanding among local Australian communities. She is happiest when reading, sewing, and listening to Gamelan.

Ericha Smyth

Education Officer

David Immanuel Sihombing is Senior Procurement Manager at Unilever Australia & New Zealand (ANZ) based in Sydney, Australia with work experience over than a decade in the company. Graduated from bachelor degree of Civil Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, he first joined Schlumberger as oil drilling engineer for prior to Unilever. In his tenure with Unilever, he’s relocated in 4 different countries so far, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and now present-home that is Australia. In his spare time, you can find David at public library, park and nature, or eatery as he's a massive foodie. He also enjoys his time joining non-for-profit organisations such as AIYA and Catholic Indonesian Community and writing where he’s working on his 2nd book plan.

David Immanuel Sihombing

Socio-Cultural Officer

Adira is a researcher and a recent MBA graduate with a passion in global health who moved to sydney in 2019. In her spare time, adira is a zumba instructor who loves to cook and have good cup of coffee in the park

Adira Wiryoatmojo

Professional Program Officer

Aqilah have recently graduated in Western Sydney University with a Bachelor of Business. She has strong interest in strengthening relationship between Aus-Indo. She loves travelling and meeting new people from different backgrounds. By joining AIYA, Aqilah hopes to promote better insights for both countries

Aqilah Wafa

Communications Officer

Angela is an engineer creating integrated circuits at the nanometer scale. She moved from Tangerang to Australia in 2017 and is a recent physics graduate from the University of Melbourne. In addition to the sciences, Angela is interested in arts and storytelling. She enjoys game development, drawing, and reading. Through AIYA, she seeks to dig deeper into Indonesian and Australian culture while meeting people from different backgrounds.

Angela Novianty Tanesha

Professional Program Officer

Nourman Hakim

Education Officer

Hi, I'm Sam! I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Indonesian Studies and Geography from Sydney University. I started studying Indonesian in high school, fell in love and haven't looked back since. In 2017, I spent a year studying and interning in Jakarta which turned out to be best years of my life so far. I'm currently working for a not-for-profit in Sydney but mostly dream of relocating to Indonesia more long-term. I'm so grateful for being part of this community of young people who share a passion for Aus-Indo and hope to share my love for Indonesian language and culture through our education initiatives like language exchange.

Samantha Lim

Education Officer

Kimberly Gunawan

Communications Officer