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Australia-Korea Foundation
The AKF was established in May 1992 with the aim of fostering relationships between Australians and Koreans.
The AKF promotes individual and institutional links especially in the fields of commerce and industry, science and technology, education, the arts, media and sport.
The AKF has a fixed budget, permanent secretariat staff in Canberra and Seoul, and a Board that meets three times a year in different locations in Australia.
The Board initiates approximately 65 per cent of the AKF projects. Expressions of Interest are sought from individuals and institutions for the remaining projects. The selection process for the projects not initiated by the Board usually begins in August each year and is open for six weeks. The Board assesses the applications and invites some applicants to provide more extensive submissions.
Some financial and other support is provided by the AKF to successful applicants but they are also expected to secure additional sources of funding.
An example of the sort of project supported by the AKF is the "Investigating Australia Studies Kit". This kit was distributed to 3,000 middle schools in Korea in 1999 with the support of the Education Ministers in Australia and Korea. More than 700 schools have used the kit and some of the stories from it have been incorporated into Social Studies textbooks used by Year 1. In 2004, AKF updated the contents and upgraded the technology into CD ROM and distributed the materials again to the 3,051 schools. As a result, all the textbooks (Social Studies Middle School Year 1) now use some part of the information provided by the Kit.
The AKF's counterpart in Korea is the Korea-Australia Foundation (KAF). This foundation does not receive Korean Government financial assistance but is supported and endorsed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Further information about the AKF and its programs can be found on the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website.