Valentina Yulita Dyah Utari

Tell us about yourself!  

My name is Valentina Yulita Dyah Utari. In Javanese tradition, family names are uncommon, so whenever a form asks for one, I simply use the last word of my name. I am a senior researcher at The SMERU Research Institute. My research focuses on gender and development, care work, and social policy. I started working with SMERU as an in-house translator/editor. I did my PhD at the University of Western Australia. My thesis’s title is “Gender Identity and Unpaid Carework: An Ethnography of the Lives of Female Indonesian PhD Students and their Families in Australia”. Outside my research work, I volunteer with LETSS Talk, a learning space about sex and sexualities. My community works with them includes co-organizing the annual Kartini Conference on Indonesian Feminisms.

Where does your interest in Indonesia stem from?  

My interest in Indonesia’s social complexities began in childhood, as a Javanese Catholic girl in Surabaya. Early on, I questioned why my brother escaped chores while my sister and I couldn’t. My Catholic schooling contrasted with the culture shock at university, where my identity as a Javanese Christian was questioned. These experiences deepened in my first job at a paper factory, witnessing the stigma and double burden placed on working women. A male worker harassed a pregnant colleague. I stopped him but I never forgot. Later, as a translator across Indonesia and Timor-Leste, I saw these issues were widespread and systemic.

What is the nature of your engagement with Indonesia – are you an academic, a professional, an alumni?  

I engage with Indonesia as a professional researcher and social policy practitioner. In my role at SMERU, I currently lead and contribute to empirical studies that inform national and subnational policy discussions, focusing on gender equality, care work, care-economy infrastructure, and women working in informal sectors. For my master’s and doctoral theses—I completed these studies at the University of Melbourne in 2013 and the University of Western Australia in 2024—I deepened my questions about Indonesian Studies, particularly regarding women, care work responsibilities, and gender identity.

Have you ever been to an Indonesia Council Open Conference and if so, what is your fondest memory?  

I've attended ICOC three times: twice online and once in person. My first experience in 2021—during the COVID-19 pandemic—was nerve-wracking as I presented my PhD findings in the presence of my supervisor. In 2023, I joined the hybrid conference remotely while relocating to Indonesia. In 2025, I presented research on domestic workers, which sparked lively discussions and new collaborations—including a podcast with PhD scholars at the University of Melbourne. Meeting old lecturers and engaging with many new people in person made this last ICOC especially memorable, pushing me beyond my comfort zone. 

How do you think organisations like Indonesia Council can improve Australia-Indonesia relations?  

In the 2025 ICOC, I befriended an SBS Indonesia journalist, and we keep in touch regularly. I introduced the journalist to my research and to SMERU studies in general. This makes me wonder: how can we make research easy to understand for people from different cultural backgrounds and, of course, benefit them? So perhaps the Indonesia Council can create a space for knowledge translation and collaborative storytelling between researchers, journalists, and community advocates.