Tania Anggi Leo Putri: The Excitement of Internship on a Cattle Farm in Australia with NTCA

Hi! My name is Tania Anggi Leo Putri, or usually called Tania. I am one of the Class of 2020 students in the Animal Science Study Program at Universitas Diponegoro. In August 2023, I was accepted into one of the international internship programs in Australia, namely Northern Territory Indonesia 360 (NTI 360), a program under the auspices of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association (NTCA). NTCA is an association in Darwin, Australia which has the function of collecting all aspirations from companies involved in the field of raising and exporting cattle from Australia to several countries, one of which is Indonesia.

This internship program gave me a lot of new insights and international exposure that I had never had before. This internship program runs for 10 weeks. In the first week, I and 19 other awardees received horsemanship training in Yarraman Territory, Darwin. Then in the second to third week, we went to Alice Springs to do other training as preparation before going straight in and working at our respective stations. Some of the training we carry out includes first aid training, station equipment and cattle flight zone, motorbike training, pre-start for driving cars, and changing tires of cars.

Not only that, in between training, we also do several games and other exciting things such as barrel racing using motorbikes, folding swag races, bonfires, cooking Indonesian food for several Australian residents, and visiting iconic places in the area of Northern Territory such as Berry Springs, Mindil Beach, Larapinta Trail, Devil Marbels, Mataranka River, Noonamah Rodeo, and several other tourist destinations. We were also allowed to shop in several supermarkets.

When we were placed at the cattle station, I and my mate Kanaya from Universitas Mulawarman were placed at a cattle farm called Bunda Station, Buchanan, Northern Territory, with a station area of approximately 409,910 Ha. There we got a lot of extraordinary knowledge. Such as mustering using horses, being a passenger chopper (helicopter) for mustering, processing in the yard, fencing, parties with all the staff, camping in the middle of the forest, and various experiences that I had never imagined. One thing that I really highlight is the work ethic of the workers at the station. One strong principle that they adhere to is “once you work for a thing, then you gotta do it yourself”. When working in the field, staff will often call “quick, run! You have to be quick so our job can be done early, you gotta be quick if you don’t want to be killed by cattle!”. Apart from that, I learned that gender equality is highly respected, so that women can still do work that is considered men’s work! Great, right?

The following is some documentation from my internship in the Northern Territory, Australia.