The purpose of this research is to determine whether Indonesian business practices and culture inhibit the competitiveness of Australian small to medium enterprises in Indonesia. Prior to the current economic demise of the Indonesian economy, Australia's trade relations with its closest Asian neighbour were not as significant as trade with countries far removed from Australia's shores. Previous research has identified that cultural problems and inadequate communication contribute towards the lack of competitiveness of international small to medium enterprises.However there has been no rigorous and comprehensive research specially related to Australian entrepreneurs and the problems they encounter in Indonesia.Several key themes emerged from this study which indicated that thorough planning and market research are more important than a comprehensive understanding of business practices and culture. What the research brings to extant literature is a rigorous and methodological analysis of Indonesian business practices from an Australian entrepreneur's perspective. This provides a structured link between the parent disciple of cross cultural communications, the plethora of information on Asian business practices, and the reality of Australian small to medium enterprises attempting to enter the Indonesian market / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)