York Park Group has taken part in a professional placements program, funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which aims to deepen Australia-Indonesia ties as part of Invested: Australia's Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040.

Intan Iswari, a Senior Consultant at Jakarta-based Kiroyan Partners, one of Indonesia's leading strategic communications and public affairs firms, has just completed two weeks with the York Park Group team in Melbourne.

The placement provided Intan with direct, hands-on exposure to Australia's political, media, and business environment.

Describing the experience, Intan said:

"I am deeply honoured to have been part of this program. The access, the networking, the conversations, and the depth of engagement I experienced in Melbourne have given me an entirely new perspective on how public affairs is practised, and the strength of the Australia-Indonesia relationship."

York Park Group organised a range of meetings, tours and events to give Intan broad insight into public affairs practice in Australia.

These included introductions to the Australia Indonesia Business Council and the Australian Indonesian Association of Victoria, organisations whose work sits at the heart of the bilateral relationship the placement program seeks to foster and promote.

York Park Group also facilitated meetings with advisers to Federal Senators and Victorian Government Ministers, a best-practice tour of the State Library of Victoria with the Committee for Melbourne, a visit to Trades Hall, and a public tour of the Parliament of Victoria.

Intan also enjoyed Melbourne's broader intellectual scene. She attended a Wheeler Centre lecture by Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, during which he explored the democratisation of knowledge and the governance of open information platforms – themes that resonate deeply with communications professionals.

She also went to hear the 2026 Jim Carlton Integrity Lecture at the University of Melbourne, hosted by the Melbourne Law School, the Melbourne School of Government, and the Accountability Round Table.

The YorkPark Group team was very fortunate to learn from Intan about how she and Kiroyan Partners delivers strategic communications in Indonesia.

Being headquartered in one of the world's largest cities, within the world's fourth most populous country, means navigating a very different media, political and business landscape to Australia, and it was a privilege to hear her firsthand insights.

York Park Group Senior Associate Jacob Hopgood is now in Jakarta for two weeks, with Kiroyan Partners.