DOCUMENT RESUME ED 451 971 RC 022 632 TITLE Katu Kalpa: Report on the Inquiry into the Effectiveness of Education and Training Programs for Indigenous Australians. INSTITUTION Australia Parliament, Canberra. Senate Employment, Workplace Relations, Small Business and Education References Committee. ISBN ISBN-0-642-71045-7 PUB DATE 2000-03-00 NOTE 214p. AVAILABLE FROM For full text: http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/EET_CTTE/indiged. PUB TYPE Reports Evaluative (142) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC09 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Attendance; Bilingual Education; Child Health; *Cultural Differences; Culturally Relevant Education; Educational Assessment; Educational Attainment; *Educational Policy; Elementary Secondary Education; Extended Family; Foreign Countries; *Indigenous Populations; Literacy; Postsecondary Education; Preschool Education; Racial Discrimination; Rural Education; *School Community Relationship; Self Determination; Teacher Education IDENTIFIERS *Aboriginal Australians; *Australia ABSTRACT An inquiry into Indigenous education by an Australian Senate committee examined government reports produced in 1989-99 and conducted school site visits and public hearings. During the inquiry, it became clear that educational equity for Indigenous people had not been achieved, and Indigenous participation and achievement rates lagged behind those of the non-Indigenous population in most sectors. Much of the inquiry focused on rural and remote regions, where Indigenous people have limited access to education. Chapter 1 of this report provides an overview of Indigenous educational policies, historical context, issues of self-determination and community control of schools, and educational funding. Other chapters discuss the evolution of a national Indigenous education policy; social and community issues (poverty, kinship, cultural differences, child rearing, attitudes toward schooling and work, low school attendance, racism, alcoholism, family problems, crime and imprisonment); curriculum issues (inclusion of Aboriginal culture and language, status of Aboriginal English, "two-way" education, mainstream educational reforms, use of technology); literacy education, bilingual education, and the teaching of Aboriginal languages; teacher education (lack of Indigenous teachers and staff, community-based teacher training, rural recruitment and retention, salaries, teaching conditions, specific training for teaching Indigenous students); postsecondary education (vocational education and training, adult education, higher education); impact of health on education (inadequate health care, Indigenous health problems, otitis media, community health education, malnutrition); and cultural diversity and differences in educational needs across remote, rural, and urban areas. Recommendations are presented in each chapter. Appendices list goals of the Aboriginal Education Policy, submissions received, witnesses at public hearings, site visits, and acronyms.(SV) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Parliament of Australia: Senate: Committee: Katu Kalpa http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/EET_CTTE/indiged/ Senate Employment, Workplace Relations, Small Business and Education References Committee Katu Kalpa - Report on the innuiry into the effectiveness of education and training Programs for Indigenous Australians MARCH 2000 © Commonwealth of Australia 2000 ISBN 0 642 71045 7 ParftentitneikeeConnittees Comments to: web.senate(iilaph.gov.au Last reviewed 16 March 2000 © Commonwealth of Australia U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY CENTER (ERIC) 445."----Thisdocument has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to rlexeolc-4\ improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES document do not necessarily represent INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)" official OERI position or policy. BEST COPY AVAILABLE 2 1 of 1 10/05/2000 11:02 AM Commonwealth of Australia copyright, reproduced by permission 3 MEMBERS OF THE REFERENCES COMMITTEE 39TH PARLIAMENT Chair Deputy Chair Senator Jacinth. Collins (ALP) VIC Senator John Tierney (LP) NSW Members Senator Kim Carr (ALP) VIC Senator Natasha Stott Despoja (AD) SA Senator Trish Crossin (ALP) NT Senator Tsebin Tchen (LP) VIC Substitute Members Senator Lyn Allison (AD) VIC to substitute for Senator Natasha Stott Despoja for this inquiry. Participating Members Senator the Hon. Eric Abetz (LP) TAS Senator Jeannie Ferris (LP) SA Senator Lyn Allison (AD) VIC Senator Brenda Gibbs (ALP) QLD Senator the Hon. Ron Boswell (NPA) QLDSenator the Hon. Brian Gibson (LP) TAS Senator Bob Brown (AG) TAS Senator Brian Harradine (Ind.) TAS Senator the Hon. David Brownhill(NPA) NSWSenator Steve Hutchins (ALP) NSW Senator Paul Calvert (LP) TAS Senator Susan Knowles (LP) WA Senator George Campbell (ALP) NSWSenator Ross Lightfoot (LP) WA Senator Grant Chapman (LP) SA Senator Sue Mackay (ALP) TAS Senator Helen Coonan (LP) NSW Senator Brett Mason (LP) QLD Senator Winston Crane (LP) WA Senator Julian McGauran (NPA) VIC Senator the Hon. Rosemary Crowley(ALP) SA Senator Kerry O'Brien (ALP) TAS Senator Alan Eggleston (LP) WA Senator the Hon.Warwick Parer* (LP) QLD Senator the Hon. John Faulkner (ALP) NSWSenator Manse Payne (LP) NSW Senator Alan Ferguson (LP) SA Senator John Watson (LP) TAS * Up until resignation on 11 February 2000 Secretariat John Carter David Redway Anne Domitrovic Jan Willis Kerrie Nelson Address Phone(02) 6277 3520 S1.61 Fax (02) 6277 5706 Parliament House E-maileet. [email protected]. au CANBERRA ACT 2600 Website: www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/eet ate 4 TERMS OF REFERENCE On 9 March 1998, the following matter was referred to the Committee for inquiry. In conducting its inquiry into the effectiveness of education and training programs for indigenous Australians, the committee: (a) surveyed the recommendations arising over the past decade from parliamentary, government, commission and agency reports which deal with Aboriginal education and training; (b) assessed the implementation, ongoing relevance and efficacy of recommendations which seek to raise educational achievement and to employ culturally-appropriate pedagogy tomaximise participationof indigenousAustraliansin formal educational settings; (c) examined the extent to which recommendations aimed at improving indigenous peoples' educational participation and achievement have been implemented by the relevant authorities, and evaluate the benefits which have flowed from them; (d) identified any obstacles to the achievement of participation of indigenous Australians in education and training and make recommendations as to how these might be overcome; (e) examined recent initiatives which have proven successful in improving the participation rates and levels of achievement of indigenous Australians in the national vocational education and training system; (f)formulated advice concerning the development and management of education and training programs by indigenous Australians for indigenous Australians; and (g) provided a comparative account of the levels of resources, both Commonwealth and State, devoted to education and training programs for indigenous Australians. 5 PREFACE The inquiry into Indigenous education and training was first referred to the Committee on 9 March 1998. Progress was interrupted by the 1998 election and the reference was referred back to the Committee on 3 December 1998. As the inquiry extended over two parliaments, there were some changes in Committee membership. The Committee received 43 submissions and conducted public hearings as well as inspections and site visits in four states and both territories. A list of submissions received and of witnesses who appeared before the Committee at its public hearings appear as appendices to this report. Over the past decade a number of parliamentary, government and commission inquiries have made recommendations on Indigenous education and training. These include the Report of the Aboriginal Education Policy Task Force (1988), the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (1991), and the National Review of Education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (1995). The Committee was asked to review parliamentary, government and commission reports on Indigenouseducationandtrainingduringthepasttenyears,assessthe recommendations made in these reports and investigate the extent to which action had been taken to address them. One of the most significant initiatives undertaken in the past decade in relation to Indigenous education and training was the introduction of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy (NATSIEP) in 1989. The NATSIEP was a national policy jointly developed by the states and territories and the Commonwealth. The central goal of the NATSIEP was 'to achieve broad equity between Aboriginal people and other Australians in access, participation and outcomes in all forms of education.d In the course of the inquiry, it became clear to the Committee that equity for Indigenous people in most educational sectors had not been achieved. At almost all levels,educational participation and achievement ratesfor Indigenous people remained behind those of the non-Indigenous population. However, it was also clear that there had been substantial progress in a range of areas, with some major improvements