Pesan Presiden - VILTA Annual Conference 2026: A celebration of connection

VILTA Annual Conference 2026:

HUBUNGAN ERAT DAN HORMAT

The 2026 VILTA Annual Conference brought our community together in a

wonderful spirit of connectedness, as 125 attendees gathered around this year’s

theme, ‘Hubungan Erat dan Hormat’.

From start to finish, the energy was palpable. As one attendee summarised:

“Everything was a highlight, seriously! I loved it, from start to finish!”

Keynote & Panel Highlights

Following a very encouraging Kata Sambutan from the Consul General in

Melbourne, Bapak Yohannes Jatmiko Heru Prasetyo, and the Education and

Culture Attaché from Canberra, Prof. Yuli Rahmawati, we welcomed our keynote

speaker, Professor Michael Hatherell. Michael received glowing praise for his

engaging storytelling and his reflection on empathy as a "core skill" in language

education. Feedback was overwhelmingly enthusiastic, with one long-time

VILTA member describing Michael as "one of the best guest speakers ever.”

Another major highlight was the student and alumni panel, moderated by Joel

Backwell. Attendees found it enlightening to hear directly from former VCE

students about how their Indonesian studies have shaped their lives and careers.

One participant noted: “The Q&A session with past students was the highlight of

my conference experience; hearing their real experiences and insights was

incredibly valuable.”

Insights from the Workshops

With 18 distinct workshops on offer, the program provided something for

everyone. Sessions were designed to deliver practical, "ready-to-use" classroom

resources, explore language nuances, inform on immersion opportunities, and

build vital support structures.

In the words of one teacher: “These workshops were all WONDERFUL! I loved

sitting with like-minded teachers in Sessions A and C, where we shared resources

and ideas. I have come back to school feeling so much more confident about my

classes!”

Looking Ahead

Alongside the praise, there was some useful constructive feedback that the

committee will take on board. For future conferences, we will look into creating

dedicated opportunities for regional, rural, and metropolitan networking, while

ensuring workshop descriptions and target audiences are more clearly defined,

along with other tweaks suggested.

Seribu terima kasih

An event of this scale relies on a strong team effort. A huge thank you goes to:

● The 2026 VILTA Committee: Every single member contributed to make

this conference the success it was, even those who couldn’t make it.

● Our Presenters: Thank you for offering such a rich and inspiring variety of

workshops.

● Our Fabulous Sponsors: We are so fortunate to have such strong mitra

partnerships. It was a pleasure to see them showcasing their resources

and demonstrating their shared commitment to supporting our teachers.

We would like to give a special mention to Amansar for providing the highly

coveted in-country accommodation prize; Daniel Bradbury from Inspired Media

for his incredible generosity (even though he sadly could not attend this year);

Michelle Ladhams for her superb prize packs (including those delightful

hand-crocheted Indonesian animals!); Liz Formby for the brilliant ‘Hima dan

Mega’ textbooks prize; Diana’s Kitchen for the scrumptious snack packs and

others who contributed. The raffle was fun!

Seribu terima kasih to everyone who attended, contributed, and shared their

passion for Indonesian language education. See you next year!

Jill Kube