In highschool, Rob Malicki wanted to do an overseas exchange, but the costs were prohibitive. His opportunity came as a Macquarie student with the help of a travel grant, coinciding with a leaflet about exchanges in England. Off he went on a life-changing experience (and an opportunity to follow Pearl Jam around Europe).

When he returned, the soaring outbound mobility numbers at Macquarie provided him with “the obvious career choice”.

It was a natural progression. He also served for three years as chair of the Study Abroad and Exchange Special Interest Group for the international education association, ISANA.

The current natural progression he believes, given growth of 10 per cent a year in outbound mobility and strong interest from different levels of government, is the establishment of a holistic, independent and cross-sectoral support framework for such mobility: AIM Overseas (standing for Australian Institute for Mobility Overseas) and the National Outbound Mobility Initiative.

“Nothing like it currently exists,” he notes.

Malicki recently left his job at Macquarie as global programs co-ordinator.

He launched AXAN, the Australian Exchange Alumni Association, in October at a reception co-hosted with the French Embassy. It is just one of the programs encompassed by the National Outbound Mobility Initiative, and he is now talking to other embassies, high commissions and the overseas counterparts of Australian Education International (AEI).

“Throughout the tertiary sector there are pockets of excellence in outbound mobility. There are perhaps eight universities which are already doing an exceptional. For many others, there is a huge gap between potential and actuality.”

AIM Overseas will maintain a comprehensive menu on its web site, to be launched in early 2008. It will post events and scholarships, and make available on a free to all basis an extensive database of all types of outbound mobility opportunities across the world, including for postgraduates.

AIM will regularly distribute proposals to institutions for outbound mobility projects which fill gaps in the provider’s own menu of activities, whether exchanges, study tours, language programs, research, internships in private and public sectors, clinical placements, volunteer service or executive and continuous education.

“Nearly everyone talks about how valuable study tours can be but many institutions have little experience as yet”, Malicki says. “There are risks involved, especially if only nine or ten students sign up. AIM Overseas can improve the tour’s viability by taking it to other providers and making it accessible to individual students, thus attracting additional participants.”

The Australia/New Zealand Exchange Fair Circuit, which Malicki founded four years ago, will continue and a national scholarship is likely to be launched early next year.

As for the Australian National Forum on Outbound Mobility (ANFOM), which Malicki created as a think-tank and networking mechanism, it has already coordinated a national student conference, a national practitioners’ meeting and three major gatherings in two years, bringing together institutions, the AEI, other government bodies and, ini the most recent forum in October, a corporate supporter of mobility scholarships.

“AIM Overseas and its activities are about advocacy; liaison; providing a major repository of opportunities; giving students easier access to information; and helping institutions, academics. etc, through partnerships. to make their outbound mobility programs more sustainable, fulfilling and varied.”