Thanks to Joe and Andrew for your comments. Joe, I agree that the West Papua issue is not going away but my feeling is that there is insufficient interest in the domestic constituency to promote any significant change on the part of the Australian government - this is pretty much the same for all issues to do with the Pacific island region.
Andrew, I do have a degree in law but UN trusteeship is way outside any area of expertise I can profess. I live in Vanuatu and I can confirm that freedom for West Papua is pretty much an article of faith on all sides of political leadership here. My guess would be that if Vanuatu has not progressed the option you refer to it is because the process, its workings and what is required of a small (and under-resourced) MoFA is unknown or unfamiliar.

There was little coverage in the mainstream
media of the fact that the West Papuan people responded to the call of civil
society groups to boycott the presidential election. http://suarapapua.com/read/...

Up to 80% of West Papuans did support the
boycott. http://www.radionz.co.nz/in...

Leading up to the election graffiti on
walls calling for a boycott were painted over by the security forces and up to
13 members of the KNPB were arrested and beaten for distributing leaflets
calling for a boycott.

The lesson for the Australia Government
in all this is that the issue of West Papua is not going away. Instead of the
usual mantra of, “we recognise Indonesian sovereignty over West Papua”, DFAT
should be encouraging Jakarta to dialogue with West Papuan representatives as
is the MSG. http://www.radionz.co.nz/in...

As the July issue of Islands Business
magazine noted. West Papua has never had this much regional support. Churches
and human rights organisations have tried for years to keep the issue alive.
Now, as Fiji prepares for elections, at least one political party has decided
to enter the fray and challenge Indonesia’s occupation of the Melanesian land. http://www.islandsbusiness....

Joe Collins
Australia West Papua Association (sydney)

The curious thing is that Vanuatu has not yet faxed an agenda item for the UN Trusteeship Council to consider the issue of trusteeship and General Assembly resolution 1752. Could this be a sign that Vanuatu does not really support the goal of a free West Papua?
Tess, you have a degree in law and interest in West Papua and foreign relations; so what is your opinion whether West Papua may be an United Nations trust territory? And would there be any disadvantage if the Trusteeship Council asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its opinion?

Here is a link to an explanation of the American plan,
http://history.state.gov/hi...
And here is a link to the United Nations resolution 1752 that appears to satisfy the requirements of article 85 and Chapter 12 of the UN Charter;
http://www.un.org/documents...
un.org/en/documents/charter...