University home

Library

Current students

Staff intranet

Find an event

Give

Sydney Southeast Asia Centre

News_

Centre news

Today’s academic research on Southeast Asia

News, informed expert commentary, and independent opinion on Southeast Asia from the University of Sydney.

SSEAC Stories podcasts

Catch up on some of the best talks on Southeast Asia!

Follow SSEAC on social media

Find out all the latest news and events

Our latest news

News_

Photo of the flags of the ASEAN member states

Politics in Action 2022: Polls, the pandemic, and civil society in Southeast Asia

Back in person in 2022, our annual Politics in Action forum focused on the latest political, social and economic developments in six countries of Southeast Asia.

Research_

Over the counter: tracking inappropriate antibiotic supply by pharmacies in Vietnam

University of Sydney-led research finds that inappropriate antibiotic supply is common in community pharmacies across Vietnam, a practice that contributes to antimicrobial resistance.

Analysis_

Addressing the barriers to vaccination in Southeast Asia

The COVID-19 pandemic has put vaccine coverage in the global spotlight and there is growing awareness of the need to understand the factors that may support or inhibit people from being vaccinated.

Analysis_

Filipinos are heading to the polls: What's at stake?

Thousands of positions will be up for grabs in the Philippines’ upcoming election, including the presidency, vice presidency and parliamentary seats, with more than 67 million Filipinos eligible to cast ballots.

News_

21 March 2022

University and Minderoo launch 'Thrive by Five' app, in Indonesia

The University of Sydney and Minderoo Foundation have begun the global rollout of a unique, culturally tailored app for carers focused on crucial early childhood development, with the first launch in Indonesia today.

Opinion_

Museum as classroom

The chance to handle museum objects is bringing study to life for students from across the disciplines, with object-based learning preparing for a second semester.

Research_

13 October 2021

Magnifying glass focusing on Australia on a desk globe

Rethinking Australia in many languages

Understanding Australia requires more than knowledge of the English language. Professor Adrian Vickers highlights the wealth of non-English sources and cross-cultural exchanges that can reorient our perspective on the Australian story.

News_

28 September 2021

Climate change warning from collapsed ancient cities

Why did some ancient Khmer and Mesoamerican cities collapse between 900-1500CE while their rural surrounds continued to prosper? Intentional adaptation to climate changed conditions may be the answer, suggests a new study, which offers lessons for today.

News_

17 August 2021

Early career researchers awarded $9m funding

The University of Sydney has received funding for 22 research projects through the Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) scheme.

News_

29 July 2021

Perceptions and demand for routine immunisation and other maternal child health services during COVID-19 pandemic among caregivers and healthcare works in East Asia and the Pacific

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) East Asia and Pacific Regional Office (EAPRO) has commissioned the University of Sydney to undertake research examining perceptions and demand for routine immunisation and other maternal and child health services during the COVID-19 pandemic, among caregivers and healthcare workers.

News_

05 July 2021

Facebook still allowing hate speech on public pages

Researchers at the University of Sydney and University of Queensland are calling on Facebook to do more consultation and offer better training for page moderators to respond to online hate speech in the Asia Pacific region.

News_

28 June 2021

Sydney anthropologist wins Scholars of Color First Book Award

Dr Sophie Chao (History) has received the inaugural Duke University Press Scholars of Color First Book Award for her forthcoming monograph, In the Shadow of the Palms: More-Than-Human Becomings in West Papua.

Tales of Unsung Heroes

On 13 January 2020, Thailand confirmed the first known case of COVID-19 outside of China. As one of the world's most popular tourism destinations, with the majority of its travellers coming from China, this news came as no surprise.

Blog_

Addressing the politics of knowledge production

The politics of knowledge production is central to the way academics at Australian universities who work in Southeast Asia manage their relationships in the region. How can we address power imbalances between the Global North and the Global South?

Telling stories about what is not there

What exactly is an archive? Who and what are involved in the making and naming of memory projects as archives? What kinds of stories become told through archives, and what stories are muted?

Blog_

Taking a long-term livelihoods perspective in rural Myanmar

How can we rethink our approach to rural development to catalyse meaningful and sustainable change addressing poverty, landlessness and food insecurity?

Blog_

Treading Water: The Dark Legacy of Hydropower Development in Myanmar

While hydropower is a vital source of renewable energy, the development of new hydropower plants can often result in adverse environmental, social and human rights consequences. Dr Thiri Shwesin Aung explores the dark side of hydropower development in Myanmar.

Blog_

A Wayang Potehi Riddle

Originating from southern Fujian in China, potehi—a cloth glove puppet theatre, arrived on the Indonesian island of Java in the 18th century, and soon became a feature of many Sino-Javanese communities.

Blog_

Photograph of a fishing boats in Cambodia

Coronavirus, Migrants and Fisheries

The environmental impacts of COVID-19 are much discussed but still lightly documented, in part because they take a long time to manifest. They also tend to be considered at a quite generalised scale.

News_

15 January 2021