AIYA New South Wales’ recent work and holiday visa information session, was covered by Bernard Lane in this morning’s Australian:

THE release of figures that show a mere handful of young Australians going to Indonesia on a new “work and holiday” visa has highlighted the obstacles facing the government’s ambitious plan to send large numbers of student-interns abroad.

…

At Thursday night’s seminar, run by the consulate and the professional group the Australia-Indonesia Youth Association, immigration attache Haryono Agus said part of the problem was that not all Indonesian officials were familiar with the new visa scheme.

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Law graduate Nicholas Mark, president of the NSW branch of AIYA, said the fact the seminar took place, together with the recent increase in visa grants, was a signal things were getting better.

“The bureaucracy is inevitably difficult in a big and complicated country such as Indonesia. That it’s improving is definitely a breakthrough,” he said.

Read the full article, including quotes from the Indonesia Institute‘s Ross Taylor, at the Australian’s website (account required).