Some of the region’s most important research on public policy, regional integration and governance, gender and inequality, labour mobility amongst other topics, conducted across the Pacific region by Pacific Islanders, will be presented at this year’s 2025 Pacific Update that commences at The University of the South Pacific’s Japan-Pacific ICT Centre at Laucala Campus, Suva, Fiji from 3-5 June 2025.
A biennial event now, the Pacific Update attracts more than 1000 people over three days, bringing together thought leaders, academics, policy makers, business, civil society and the public to hear about research on key development issues facing the region.
“The Pacific Update 2025 is more than a conference — it’s a meeting of minds and a launchpad for regional progress. The Development Policy Centre at the Australian National University is proud to regularly co-host with the University of the South Pacific this essential institution for dialogue, partnership and a sharing of state-of-the-art research across the region”, says Co-Convenor and Deputy Director Dr Ryan Edwards from the Development Policy Centre.
The Pacific Update first held in 1983 and hosted by the USP, is today jointly organised and co-hosted by The University of the South Pacific’s School of Accounting, Finance and Economics, and by the Australian National University’s Development Policy Centre.
USP Co-Convenor Dr Neelesh Gounder says the event has developed a reputation for featuring high quality policy-relevant research.
The Update will be officially opened on Tuesday morning with keynote presentations by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Baron Waqa and another by Stephen Howes and Rubayat Chowdhury from the Development Policy Centre, ANU with a paper titled New approaches to measuring economic performance in Pacific islands.
The conference will feature various other keynotes, plenary sessions and numerous panels with over 60 presentations from researchers across the Pacific, including Australia and New Zealand.
Topics covered range from regional integration and governance, accountability ecosystems in the Pacific, gender and inequality, unspoken rules of politics in Vanuatu, reshaping social protection research in the Pacific and Timor-Leste, Corruption in the Pacific, The potential of artificial intelligence in policymaking and development, various topics on Pacific Migration and many more.
Along with the aforementioned keynote presenters, they will be joined by senior diplomats and politicians including Australia’s High Commissioner to Fiji Mr Peter Roberts and academics, Professor Pal Ahluwalia, Vice Chancellor and President, The University of the South Pacific, Dr Manumatavai Tupou-Roosen, Acting Deputy VC (Regional Campuses and Global Engagement, USP), the Hon Marie-Louise Milne, MP with the Parliament of Vanuatu and others.
Presentations worth looking out for include:
Bel isi: a PNG public-private partnership responding to gender-based violence
Tovi Amona, Bel isi PNG
Community rule and order making in Melanesia
Miranda Forsyth, Australian National University and Sinclair Dinnen, Australian National University
A Blue Pacific rules-based order: our rules, our home
Joel Nilon, Australian National University and Sione Tekiteki, Auckland University of Technology
Pacific approaches to understanding and fighting corruption
Steven Ratuva, University of Canterbury
Grant Walton, Australian National University
Fiji’s macroeconomic performance amid global and domestic uncertainty: progress, challenges and policy options
Janesh Sami, The University of the South Pacific
Economic development and poverty reduction: income and human capital nexus in Fiji
Rukmani Gounder, Massey University
Correspondent banking relationships – impacts and mitigation
Denton Rarawa and Rodney Kirarock, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat
Solomon Islands labour mobility: achievements, outlook, and issues
Christina Marau, Solomon Islands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade
Life in the Pacific islands: understanding determinants of life satisfaction in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga
Kushneel Prakash, University of Melbourne
The way forward for electoral reform in Fiji
Jon Fraenkel, Professor of Comparative Politics, Victoria University of Wellington
Narratives, information and immigration policy preferences
Alyssa Leng, Australian National University
2024 Pacific Engagement Visa scorecard: Papua New Guinea’s experiences
Natasha Turia, Australian National University
Update on PIFS Pacific Regional Labour Mobility principles
Manisha Mudaliar, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and Sachindra Singh, International Organization for Migration
A preview of Pacific Labour Mobility Survey Wave Two
Dung Doan, World Bank and Ryan Edwards, Australian National University
The Update is free to all presenters and attendees, you are however requested to register for catering and admin purposes. Please visit the welcome desk outside the USP ICT Centre on arrival.
The Update will also be livestreamed via www.usp.ac.fj/live
You can now download the full program including abstracts via https://devpolicy.org/2025-Pacific-Update/2025-Pacific-Update-program-abstracts.pdf
Convenors Dr Neelesh Gounder and Dr Ryan Edwards will be available at the conference venue for interviews.
For media queries, follow-ups and interviews contact:
Charlene Lanyon
Manager Public Relations and Communications
The University of the South Pacific
Email: charlene.lanyon@usp.ac.fj
Sadhana Sen
Devpol Regional CommunicationsAdvisor/Pacific Update Liaison Officer
Development Policy Centre
Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU
Tel/WhatsApp: 679 8056606
Email: sadhana.sen@anu.edu.au or sadhanasen2010@gmail.com
