Australia Myanmar Institute

08/08/2026

At 8 am on 8 August AMI president Joseph Lo Bianco and AMI special advisor Christopher Lamb attended and addressed the participants at the 38th commemoration of the 88 Uprising organised by Myanmar diaspora representatives on the steps of of Parliament House, Victoria. There were calls to release all political prisoners and unite for the long struggle to restore freedom, civilian rule and free and fair elections to Myanmar.
#၃၈နှစ်မြောက်၈လေးလုံးလှုပ်ရှားမှု
#၈လေးလုံးထီးသပိတ်လှုပ်ရှားမှု



Photo credit: David Kap Thang DT

08/08/2026

MEDIA STATEMENT

8-8-88: THE STRUGGLE FOR DEMOCRACY IN MYANMAR REMAINS UNFINISHED

Professor Joseph Lo Bianco, President, Australia Myanmar Institute

8 August 2026

On the anniversary of Myanmar's historic 8-8-88 uprising, the Australia Myanmar Institute (AMI) reiterates its firm call for the immediate, complete and unconditional release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners in Myanmar.

On 8 August 1988, people across Myanmar took to the streets in an extraordinary nationwide demand for democracy, civilian government and an end to authoritarian rule. The movement was brutally suppressed, but 8-8-88 became an enduring symbol of the determination of Myanmar's people to secure democratic government and fundamental political freedoms.

Thirty-eight years later, that struggle remains tragically unfinished.

AMI welcomes the significant development earlier this week in which Daw Aung San Suu Kyi met a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The meeting provides the first independently confirmed contact with her for a considerable period and important credible evidence in response to the "proof of life" demands made by her son, Kim Aris, and many supporters around the world.
We are relieved to see evidence of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi meeting and greeting the Red Cross representative. This partially allays the grave concerns that have surrounded her health and wellbeing during more than five years of detention. It does not, however, diminish the fundamental injustice of her continued deprivation of liberty.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi remains Myanmar's democratically elected leader, removed from office not by the electorate but by the military coup of February 2021. That democratic mandate should not be obscured by subsequent political arrangements or by elections conducted under military rule and widely rejected as neither free nor fair.
The Red Cross visit should therefore be regarded as a beginning, not an end.
AMI hopes that it will lead immediately to regular and unrestricted humanitarian access, appropriate medical care, and communication between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her family. Above all, it must be followed by her unconditional release and the restoration of her freedom to resume a normal life of her own choosing.

The same principle applies to the many others imprisoned because of their political beliefs, democratic activities or opposition to military rule. No government should attempt to resolve political disagreement by imprisoning those who dissent from it.

On this anniversary, AMI therefore calls upon Myanmar's current rulers to release all political prisoners and abandon imprisonment and repression as instruments for suppressing political opinion.

We also call upon Australia, ASEAN, the United Nations and the wider international community to strengthen their efforts towards the restoration of genuine civilian government in Myanmar, founded on political freedom, inclusive democratic participation and free and fair elections.

The meaning of 8-8-88 lies not only in remembering the courage and sacrifice of those who stood against authoritarian rule in 1988. It lies in recognising that their fundamental demand that the people of Myanmar should be free to choose those who govern them — remains unresolved.

Thirty-eight years later, that demand must not be forgotten.

Professor Joseph Lo Bianco, AM, FAHA
Professor Emeritus, University of Melbourne
President, Australia Myanmar Institute

07/08/2026

Gender-Responsive Humanitarian Action in Myanmar's Polycrisis

This seminar is an online event via Zoom

Date: August 31, 2026 (Monday)
Time: 06:00 - 07:00 PM (Melbourne Time)
02:30-03:30 PM (Myanmar/Yangon Time)
Join Zoom Meeting: please click here https://us06web.zoom.us/s/89666839791?pwd=TJRHeGANEbzglGoVTYnbt8MOiRERcH.1
Meeting ID: 896 6683 9791
Passcode: 522994

Presenter: Okkar Shein

Description: Myanmar’s political and humanitarian crisis following the 2021 military coup has significantly reshaped both humanitarian response systems and gender dynamics across the country. While women-led organizations and local civil society actors have become frontline responders in increasingly complex and insecure contexts, gender mainstreaming efforts face serious operational, political, and security challenges.

This seminar will explore how gender mainstreaming is being practiced and challenged in Myanmar. Drawing from practical experiences from the Gender Equality Network (GEN) Myanmar, as well as broader engagement with women-led organizations, humanitarian coordination, and localization efforts, the talk will reflect on the intersection of gender equality, humanitarian action, women’s leadership,
conflict, and aid systems in Myanmar.

It will also examine the opportunities and limitations of current international aid approaches and discuss what more meaningful gender-responsive and locally led humanitarian action could look like in fragile contexts.

Okkar Shein is the Head of Program in the Gender Equality Network (GEN) Myanmar, which is an active CSOs network of over 70 organizations, and individual members working to promote gender equality and women’s rights in Myanmar. Okkar is a development professional with over a decade of experience, primarily focused on advancing gender equality, community development, and inclusive humanitarian action. In response to the ongoing crisis in Myanmar, he actively engages with a wide range of international stakeholders, including UN agencies, donor organizations, embassies, and UN permanent missions. Through these engagements, he strategically
advocates for gender equality and localization priorities, aiming to reshape international aid policies to be more effective, context-responsive, and supportive of grassroots communities.

Questions and Answers will follow the presentations. For more information about AMI, please visit aummi.edu.au/.

08/07/2026

Federal Design in Myanmar: A Pathway for Unity, Stability and Inclusivity


This seminar is an online event via Zoom

Date: July 27, 2026 (Monday)

Time:​06:00 - 07:00 PM (Melbourne Time)

​02:30-03:30 PM (Myanmar/Yangon Time)

Join Zoom Meeting: please click here https://us06web.zoom.us/s/89666839791?pwd=TJRHeGANEbzglGoVTYnbt8MOiRERcH.1

Meeting ID: 896 6683 9791

Passcode: 522994

Presenter: Michael Breen and Soe Htet

Description: This talk introduces and overviews a recently published edited book focused on federal design in Myanmar, Federal Design in Myanmar: A Pathway for Unity, Stability and Inclusivity, edited by Michael Breen and Soe Htet. The book brings together leading scholars, practitioners, and civil society actors, offers practical contributions to Myanmar’s evolving federal constitutional design and draws lessons applicable to other conflict-affected and divided societies. Through comparative analysis and ground case studies, the book explores competing visions of federalism, emerging bottom-up governance models, and the political contestations shaping Myanmar’s future. It provides fresh insights into legitimacy, representation, institutional design, ethnic autonomy, and the prospects for sustainable peace in a fractured state. The talk will overview the chapters and their recommendations and suggestions. Chapter authors will also be invited to attend and may be available to contribute to discussions on their chapters.

Michael Breen is a Senior Lecturer in Public Policy at the University of Melbourne. He completed his PhD at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and then was a McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Melbourne. Michael has also been a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Ethnic Conflict, Queens University of Belfast and Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Comparative Federalism, Eurac, Italy. Michael's research focuses on federalism, political parties and electoral systems in Asia, ethnic conflict, and deliberative democracy. Before academia, Michael was a policy maker, negotiator and project manager in government departments in Australia and international organisations such as the United Nations Development Programme. He has advised on federal constitution-making in Nepal, Myanmar and the Philippines and authored major policy and legislative reforms in Australia.

Soe Htet is a PhD candidate in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne and a Steering Committee member of the Myanmar Research Network. His research focuses on nation-building, federalism and the political history of Myanmar. He has taught in the online Social Research Skills Program offered by the University of Melbourne and the Regional Centre for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD) at Chiang Mai University. His recent work on the genealogy of federal discourses in Myanmar was published in the edited volume Federal Design in Myanmar: A Pathway for Unity, Stability, and Inclusivity (2026).

Questions and Answers will follow the presentations.

For more information about AMI, please visit aummi.edu.au/.

To create and strengthen sustainable, multi-sectoral, collaborative, applied research and capacity building partnerships between Australia and Myanmar

19/06/2026

Addresses by AMI President Joe Lo Bianco and AMI Special Advisor Christopher Lamb at the 81st Birthday Celebration of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Clayton Hall, 19 June 2026

12/06/2026

Writing in a Time of Conflict: Challenges and Opportunities

This seminar is an online event via Zoom

Date: June 29, 2026 (Monday)
Time: 06:00 - 07:00 PM (Melbourne Time)
02:30-03:30 PM (Myanmar/Yangon Time)

Join Zoom Meeting: please click here https://us06web.zoom.us/s/89666839791?pwd=TJRHeGANEbzglGoVTYnbt8MOiRERcH.1

Meeting ID: 896 6683 9791
Passcode: 522994

Presenter: Ma Thida and Michelle Aung Thin

Description:In this seminar the presenters will explain the role of writing in Myanmar during a period of political repression and armed conflict. The conflict examines how writers, journalists, poets, and intellectuals have responded to censorship, imprisonment, and violence, often using poetry, essays, and digital platforms as forms of resistance and testimony. The discussion considers the decline of cultural infrastructure—including libraries, independent publishers, and literary spaces—and its impact on education, reading cultures, and creative exchange. It also traces shifts from the relative liberalisation of the NLD government to the severe restrictions imposed since February 2021, highlighting changes in publishing, readership, and literary production. Particular attention is given to online and diaspora networks that sustain the circulation of writing across
borders, as well as the role of translation, language, and international readership in bringing Burmese/Myanmar literature to wider global audiences.

Ma Thida is a human rights activist, surgeon and writer who was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for endangering public peace, distributing unlawful literature and having contact with illegal organisations. She was released in 1999 after facing 6 years of harsh conditions. She is currently chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee. She continues to speak out about the current difficult environment for freedom of expression and the cases of other writers in prison in Myanmar.

Michelle Aung Thin is an A\ssociate Professor in the School of Media and Communication, teaching in the disciplines of Communication and Creative Writing. Her research spans in cultural history of colonial mixed-race groups such as the Anglo-Burmese, Anglo-Indians, Zerbadi and other Asian diaspora in cosmopolitan Rangoon to contemporary Myanmar literary production. She has taught writing in Mandalay and Yangon and more recently, collaborated with Myanmar artists, writers and translators on creative and academic works. Michelle has been a guest at southeast Asia and Australia’s most prestigious literary festivals and events. Michelle was born in Burma and her personal connection to the region enable her to offer insight into cross-cultural creative practices.

Questions and Answers will follow the presentations.

For more information about AMI, please visit aummi.edu.au/.

27/05/2026

Australia's Immigration Response to Myanmar's Crisis: Policy, Practice and the Case for Reform

Date: May 25, 2026 (Monday)

Presenter: Ko Ko Aung

Description: Since the 2021 military coup, the displacement crisis in Myanmar has placed sustained pressure on Australia's immigration and protection system. Myanmar nationals in Australia, students, skilled workers, family members, and those seeking protection, now navigate a complex set of visa pathways shaped as much by ministerial discretion and shifting policy settings as by the formal legal framework.

Drawing on frontline casework, this seminar examines how Australia's immigration system is responding in practice: where pathways are working, where they are producing prolonged uncertainty, and how outcomes for Myanmar nationals compare with those afforded to other displaced cohorts.

The seminar will then turn to the policy and advocacy landscape, the role of submissions, sector coalitions, and evidence-based engagement with government in shaping more responsive settings, and the contribution that research institutions, practitioners and the diaspora can each make. The aim is to equip attendees with a clearer picture of the current state of play, and to open a discussion about constructive avenues for reform that align with Australia's broader bilateral engagement with Myanmar.

Ko Ko Aung is an Australian-qualified lawyer practising in immigration and refugee law, with a client base spanning Australia and clients from countries across the world. His practice covers protection visa applications, merits review at the Administrative Review Tribunal, ministerial intervention, and family and skilled migration matters, giving him broad, comparative visibility of how Australia's immigration framework operates across very different displacement, family and labour-mobility contexts. Within that broader practice, he has a sustained professional interest in matters connected to Myanmar, and contributes to policy submissions, professional commentary and community legal education on issues affecting the Myanmar diaspora in Australia. He works with community organisations and sector colleagues on initiatives linking individual casework to broader policy settings. His underlying interest is in ensuring that policy debate on Australia's immigration and protection system, including its response to displacement from Myanmar, is informed by evidence drawn from the lived experience of those most directly affected.

Click the link for seminar recording 👇👇👇

This seminar is an online event via ZoomDate: May 25, 2026 (Monda...

06/05/2026

Australia's Immigration Response to Myanmar's Crisis: Policy, Practice and the Case for Reform

This seminar is an online event via Zoom

Date: May 25, 2026 (Monday)
Time: 06:00 - 07:00 PM (Melbourne Time)
02:30-03:30 PM (Myanmar/Yangon Time)
Join Zoom Meeting: please click here https://us06web.zoom.us/s/89666839791?pwd=TJRHeGANEbzglGoVTYnbt8MOiRERcH.1
Meeting ID: 896 6683 9791
Passcode: 522994

Presenter: Ko Ko Aung

Description: Since the 2021 military coup, the displacement crisis in Myanmar has placed sustained pressure on Australia's immigration and protection system. Myanmar nationals in Australia, students, skilled workers, family members, and those seeking protection, now navigate a complex set of visa pathways shaped as much by ministerial discretion and shifting policy settings as by the formal legal framework.

Drawing on frontline casework, this seminar examines how Australia's immigration system is responding in practice: where pathways are working, where they are producing prolonged uncertainty, and how outcomes for Myanmar nationals compare with those afforded to other displaced cohorts.

The seminar will then turn to the policy and advocacy landscape, the role of submissions, sector coalitions, and evidence-based engagement with government in shaping more responsive settings, and the contribution that research institutions, practitioners and the diaspora can each make. The aim is to equip attendees with a clearer picture of the current state of play, and to open a discussion about constructive avenues for reform that align with Australia's broader bilateral engagement with Myanmar.

Ko Ko Aung is an Australian-qualified lawyer practising in immigration and refugee law, with a client base spanning Australia and clients from countries across the world. His practice covers protection visa applications, merits review at the Administrative Review Tribunal, ministerial intervention, and family and skilled migration matters, giving him broad, comparative visibility of how Australia's immigration framework operates across very different displacement, family and labour-mobility contexts. Within that broader practice, he has a sustained professional interest in matters connected to Myanmar, and contributes to policy submissions, professional commentary and community legal education on issues affecting the Myanmar diaspora in Australia. He works with community organisations and sector colleagues on initiatives linking individual casework to broader policy settings. His underlying interest is in ensuring that policy debate on Australia's immigration and protection system, including its response to displacement from Myanmar, is informed by evidence drawn from the lived experience of those most directly affected.

Questions and Answers will follow the presentations.
For more information about AMI, please visit aummi.edu.au/.

14/04/2026

Courageous Journalism: How Myanmar Filmmakers Tell the World the Truth

This seminar is an online event via Zoom

Date: April 27, 2026 (Monday)
Time: 06:00 - 07:00 PM (Melbourne Time)
02:30-03:30 PM (Myanmar/Yangon Time)

Join Zoom Meeting: please click here https://us06web.zoom.us/s/89666839791?pwd=TJRHeGANEbzglGoVTYnbt8MOiRERcH.1

Meeting ID: 896 6683 9791
Passcode: 522994

Presenter: Chan Thiri Soe

Chan is the organiser of the Peacock Film Festival run by the Democratic Voice of Burma, which showcases documentary films focusing on human rights, social justice, and resistance to the 2021 military coup in Myanmar. She is in a unique position to discuss the role of films in contemporary Myanmar.

For AMI she will show a short documentary on the organisation of resistance and how ordinary people were propelled to join the Civil Disobedience Movement. After the screening Chan will
discuss how films and filmmaking have come to represent a form of preparation for a possible future civil society in Myanmar. Following the February 2021 coup in Myanmar, many lecturers and students across the country, were among the first to join the Civil Disobedience Movement. They faced severe pressure but took great personal risks and in large numbers, joined armed resistance groups. Some supported grassroots journalism to document the military's crackdown in their communities and several documented these tumultuous times through filming.

On 27 April Chan will be screening “Star (ကြယ်)”, a 15-minute documentary about lecturer Daw Radi Ong who joins the Civil Disobedience Movement and becomes a local journalist. The film
follows Daw Radi Ong’s life in Kalay and remarkable process of how she and her student left their social and professional roles to confront the military and promote revolution. After the screening Chan will describe the voices and stories the film represents and how, despite low budgets and security risks for filmmakers, film has become an important source of communication, organisation, and resistance.

Chan is a Myanmar journalist with over a decade of experience in the media industry and currently serves as Executive Producer of the CJ Shorts Program (Citizen Journalist Short Documentary Program) at Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB). She is the founder of DVB Short Documentary Compilations (DSDC), launched in 2022 as a platform to showcase short documentary works. This initiative later evolved into the DVB Peacock Film Festival (DVB PFF) in 2024, which she also founded to nurture and promote emerging Myanmar filmmakers. Her work focuses on human rights, conflict, and social issues in Myanmar, with a strong commitment to amplifying underrepresented voices and bringing international attention to the country’s ongoing crisis. She continues to engage in media and advocacy
efforts to support independent journalism and storytelling.

Star (ကြယ်) (Duration: 15:58)
After the coup, lecturer Daw Radi Ong joins the Civil Disobedience Movement and becomes a local journalist. The film follows her life in Kalay and the story of her
student who joined the revolution.

Questions and Answers will follow the presentations. For more information about AMI, please visit aummi.edu.au/.