Australia is firmly committed to the Brisbane Communiqué initiative, and as a result has set up a taskforce in the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations to provide secretariat support to the Senior Officials’ Working Group (SOWG).
At the inaugural SOWG meeting it was agreed that the work of the Taskforce would encompass:
- Organising periodic SOWG meetings, including the commissioning of discussion papers and reports;
- Coordinating the work program agreed by the SOWG;
- Organising the next Asia-Pacific Education Ministers’ Meeting;
- Coordinating communications with the broader Asia-Pacific region, including countries represented at the Brisbane meeting in 2006 and those not represented;
- Raising awareness and promoting participation;
- Developing and updating the Brisbane Communiqué website; and
- Coordinating and providing input to the 2007 Interim Report, and the 2008 Report to Ministers.
The Director of the Taskforce had a series of meetings in August 2006 with regional organisations to discuss the Brisbane Communiqué work. Organisations included the South East Asian Ministers of Education Organisation, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, the International Labour Organisation, the World Bank, the ASEAN Universities Network and the South East Asian Association of Institutes of Higher Learning. These organisations responded positively to the Brisbane Communiqué aims.
The Taskforce is keen to ensure that this work does not duplicate work already underway in the region. It is also keen to work in partnership, wherever possible, with countries and organisations in the region where the Brisbane Communiqué objectives and activities overlap or complement each other.