INDIGENOUS Tertiary Education Conference

TRINITY COLLEGE 18 - 19 NOVEMBER 2016 PROUDLY PRESENTED BY

FRONT COVER Image courtesy of the Hardy family WELCOME FROM TRINITY COLLEGE

On behalf of Trinity College, the University of Melbourne it is my honour to welcome you to the 2016 inaugural Indigenous Tertiary Education Conference.

We acknowledge that we live and learn on the land of the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nations. The conference takes place in Trinity College’s new Gateway building, which is a tangible expression of Trinity’s commitment to higher education and to providing transformative experiences for young people of any nationality, ethnicity, race or creed.

Trinity’s Indigenous programs have been developing since 2001 and are set in the context of the College’s commitment to reconciliation with Indigenous communities. The imperative of these programs is to implement practical steps that make a real difference to the lives of students and the communities to which they belong. The first major step taken by Trinity was to establish the Bachelor of Arts Extended pathway program, in partnership with the Faculty of Arts, Murrup Barak, and other residential colleges. Last year, the Faculty of Science formed a similar Bachelor of Science Extended pathway program. These programs are a unique and successful pathway model for Indigenous students in Australia.

Trinity College, in collaboration with the University of Melbourne, has established this conference as a forum for educators, researchers, policymakers, students and the community. The conference theme will explore transitions into and within tertiary education and after graduation. I welcome our Australian and international Indigenous and non-Indigenous colleagues. I am especially delighted to welcome our keynote speakers, Rachel Perkins, filmmaker, producer and screenwriter, and Belinda Duarte, CEO of Culture is Life, and to thank Stan Grant for is participation.

Thank you to the conference committee chaired by Professor Ian Anderson, the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Engagement) and Foundation Chair in Indigenous Higher Education at the University of Melbourne, and the Conference Ambassador and Trinity College Fellow and Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor Marcia Langton, for their support and guidance. I also thank Professor Richard James and the Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education for their assistance in organising this conference.

We hope that this conference will provide a forum to share information and knowledge on how best to support and improve outcomes for Indigenous tertiary students.

Professor Ken Hinchcliff Warden & CEO Trinity College University of Melbourne

INDIGENOUS CONFERENCE 2016 1 WELCOME FROM THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

Welcome to the inaugural Indigenous Tertiary Education Conference. On behalf of the Conference Committee I am delighted that you have joined us for these important discussions.

We gather at Trinity College, the University of Melbourne, on the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. Trinity College, together with other residential colleges, has worked closely with the University and Murrup Barak in particular, in shaping Indigenous education at the University of Melbourne.

As our Conference Ambassador, Professor Marcia Langton has stated ‘education is the key to creating the Aboriginal leaders, teachers, professionals and self-sufficient individuals of the future. It is capable of expanding opportunities for full social, political, and economic participation’ (Marcia Langton, 2004)

This Conference provides a forum for discussions on how best to improve outcomes for Indigenous tertiary students. The 2016 Conference theme will focus on the important issue of transition, including:

• The challenges of transitioning from secondary to tertiary studies for Indigenous students;

• The role and value of residential accommodation, in particular collegiate education, in supporting transition to tertiary study and in contributing to retention and academic success;

• Best practice in student wellbeing and support when transitioning to new educational institutions and living arrangements;

• The role and importance of transition from undergraduate to postgraduate studies and from postgraduate studies to careers in research and teaching or other professional employment;

• The importance of subjects such as Indigenous studies and Aboriginalities in fostering identity and facilitating transition for Indigenous students and improving cultural literacy and awareness of non-Indigenous students.

On behalf of the Conference Committee, I am particularly delighted to extend a warm welcome to our keynote speakers, Rachel Perkins, filmmaker, producer and screenwriter and Belinda Duarte, CEO of Culture is Life. I would also like to thank renowned journalist and author, Stan Grant for delivering the University of Melbourne’s 2016 Narrm Oration and participating in the Conference.

Lastly, thank you for being part of this significant event. We are confident that the discussions that will take place during, and as a result of, this Conference will be both challenging and rewarding. Most importantly, we hope that they will assist in informing our efforts in improving educational outcomes for Indigenous tertiary students.

Professor Ian Anderson Pro Vice-Chancellor (Engagement) Foundation Chair in Indigenous Higher Education University of Melbourne

2 INDIGENOUS CONFERENCE 2016 CONFERENCE CHAIR AND COMMITTEE

Chair: Professor Ian Anderson Pro Vice-Chancellor (Engagement) Foundation Chair in Indigenous Higher Education University of Melbourne

Committee: Professor Marcia Langton AM (Conference Ambassador) Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor Foundation Chair of Australian Indigenous Studies Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences University of Melbourne

Professor Elizabeth McKinley Professor of Indigenous Education Melbourne Graduate School of Education University of Melbourne

Professor Shaun Ewen Foundation Director of the Melbourne Poche Centre for Indigenous Health Associate Dean (Indigenous Development) Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences University of Melbourne

Associate Professor Sara J Wills Associate Dean (Engagement & Advancement) Coordinator, Executive Master of Arts Associate Professor, Historical and Philosophical Studies Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty of Arts University of Melbourne

Professor Ken Hinchcliff Warden & CEO Trinity College University of Melbourne

Mr Campbell Bairstow Dean & Deputy Warden Trinity College University of Melbourne

Conference Organiser: Rachel Landgren Indigenous Conference Project Officer Trinity College University of Melbourne

INDIGENOUS CONFERENCE 2016 3 CONFERENCE AMBASSADOR

PROFESSOR MARCIA LANGTON Professor Marcia Langton AM PhD Macq U, BA (Hons) ANU, FASSA is an anthropologist and geographer, and holds the Foundation Chair of Australian Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne. She has produced a large body of knowledge in the areas of political and legal anthropology, Indigenous agreements and engagement with the minerals industry, and Indigenous culture and art. Her role in the Prime Minister and Cabinet sponsored Empowered Communities project, as member of the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australians and the Forrest Review is a recent demonstration of Professor Langton’s academic reputation, policy commitment and impact, alongside her role as a prominent public intellectual (e.g. her 2012 Boyer lectures titled ‘The Quiet Revolution: Indigenous People and the Resources Boom’), and her influence and reputation in government and private sector circles.

Awarded B.A. (Hons) from the Australian National University and a PhD from Macquarie University. She is a Fellow of Trinity College, Melbourne, a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences of Australia, and a member of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.

In 2016, Professor Langton is honoured as a University of Melbourne Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor.

2016 NARRM ORATOR AND SPECIAL GUEST STAN GRANT Stan Grant is an Australian man of Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi heritage. He spent his young years on the road in an itinerant family searching the backblocks of New South Wales trying to survive. His journey has taken him around the world as a journalist covering the biggest stories of our times, from war and conflict to revolution, disaster and political and economic upheaval. He has won some of the most prestigious awards in journalism both in Australia and overseas. He has published two critically praised and best selling books, The Tears of Strangers and Talking to My Country and he is the author of the soon to be released Quarterly Essay looking at indigenous futures. He has worked for the ABC, Seven Network, SBS, National Indigenous Television, Sky News, The Guardian newspaper and for more than a decade as senior foreign correspondent with CNN based in Asia and the Middle East.

4 INDIGENOUS CONFERENCE 2016 KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

RACHEL PERKINS Director, Producer, Screenwriter

Rachel Perkins’ Australian Aboriginal heritage has informed her entire filmmaking career. She founded Australia’s premier Indigenous production company Blackfella Films in 1992, and has contributed extensively to the development of Indigenous filmmakers and, more broadly, to the Australian film and television industry.

Rachel has directed four feature films: Radiance, One Night the Moon, the musical Bran Nue Dae which screened at the Sundance, Berlin and Toronto Film Festivals, and the forthcoming release Jasper Jones.

In 2012 Rachel directed the telemovie Mabo for ABC1. Between 2012 and 2014 Rachel directed three episodes and a telemovie of the landmark television drama series Redfern Now for the ABC for which she received the Australian Directors Guild (ADG) Award for Best Direction in a TV Drama Series in 2013, 2014 and again in 2016. Redfern Now was awarded the 2013 and 2014 TV Week Logie Awards for Most Outstanding Drama Series, and the 2014 AACTA Award for Best Television Drama Series.

Rachel also wrote, directed and co-produced the seven-hour documentary series for SBS First Australians (2009), and in 2014 she completed the documentary Black Panther Woman which premiered at the Sydney Film Festival.

BELINDA DUARTE CEO of Culture is Life

Belinda Duarte was born and raised in Ballarat, Victoria. She is a descendant of the Wotjobaluk people and has Polish heritage.

Belinda is currently the CEO of Culture is Life, an organisation promoting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander led solutions to support culture strengthening and to prevent youth suicide. Before this, Belinda was the Inaugural Director of the Korin Gamadji Institute based at Richmond Football Club where she was responsible for leading the implementation of the institute’s programs across industry bridging access to pathways that enabled young Aboriginal Australians to excel.

As a qualified teacher, Belinda has worked in education, training and community development since 1990. She is passionate about social impact and has invested a career around this agenda.

Belinda holds a range of positions including: Co-Chair Reconciliation Victoria, Advisory Board Member Koori Youth Council, Panel Member Premiers Jobs & Investment Panel, Director Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, Director WasteAid and Member of the Victorian Regional Churchill Fellowship Committee. Her former appointments include long term Director of VicHealth, National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Health Equalities Committee, Chair & Director National Aboriginal Sporting Chance Academy and Patron of EastWeb. In 2012 she was acknowledged for her work in the AFL industry and awarded Football Woman of the Year.

As a proud Australian, Belinda is dedicated to creating meaningful change for Australia that creates lifelong outcomes and impact.

INDIGENOUS CONFERENCE 2016 5 CONFERENCE DINNER

DR SANA NAKATA Guest Speaker

From the Torres Straits, Sana Nakata completed her PhD in 2012 and is now Lecturer in Political Science and ARC Discovery Research Fellow on the project Representations of Children in Australian Political Controversies at the University of Melbourne. She is trained as a lawyer and political theorist and her work is centred on developing an approach for thinking politically about children in ways that improve the capacity of adult decision-makers to act in their interests. She has recently published a book based on this work titled, Childhood Citizenship, Governance and Policy: The Politics of Becoming Adult. Previously, she has worked at Victoria Legal Aid, Department of Premier and Cabinet Victoria, and the United States House of Representatives. In 2001, Sana was Trinity College’s first Oodgeroo scholar.

SHAUNTAI BATZKE Soprano

Wiradjuri soprano, Shauntai Batzke is touching the hearts of Australia and overseas audiences with her strong stage presence. In September 2016, Shauntai made her Sydney Opera House debut as 'Old Alice' in Short Black Opera’s 5th season of Pecan Summer. Shauntai is a developing artist with Short Black Opera Company, Australia’s National Indigenous Opera Company and was the proud recipient of the 2014 and 2015 Harold Blair Scholarship with the Melba Opera Trust.

Earlier in 2016, Shauntai was asked to sing as the soprano for the inaugural Directors Workshop at Lyric Opera Melbourne and in February 2016 was the featured singer for Native Dignity at the State Library of Victoria as part of Blak & Bright Festival.

In July 2015, Shauntai had the privilege of singing at the inauguration of the new Governor of Victoria, the Honourable Linda Dessau AM at Government House in Melbourne. She also participated in the Canto De Las Americas vocal workshops at the Belle Arti Center for the Arts, New York. After intensive training with industry leaders from The Metropolitan Opera House, Shauntai performed at the Steinway & Sons showroom, New York. In 2016, Shauntai was invited back to Belle Arti Center for the Arts, New York, for further training and is planning for another return in 2017 to work with Belle Arti and Veronica Villaroel, Lucy Arner, Fransisco Casanova and Simon Saad and the Queens Symphony Orchestra.

Shauntai is an established Inspirational and Gospel singer/songwriter and from 2009 has been a regular singer on Wesley Impact TV, Channel 9 & ACC Foxtel. In 2012, Shauntai was featured in Archie Roach’s album as part of the Gospel ensemble Into the Bloodstream and in the official video clip of Song to Sing from that same album. Shauntai made her operatic debut in 2010 in Pecan Summer, written by Deborah Cheetham AO. She featured in the role of Old Alice in the subsequent three seasons of the opera, in 2011, 2012 & 2014, and then in 2016 at the Sydney Opera House. Shauntai sang in a master class with world-renowned répétiteur Malcolm Martineau in 2013 and was a semi finalist for The APRA professional development award for songwriting. In 2014, Shauntai completed her Bachelor of Music at the Melbourne Conservatorium, the University of Melbourne. Other productions include The Beginning of Nature at WOMADelaide 2016 with Australian Dance Theatre; RICERCAR, Present Tense Ensemble; Fidelio, Melbourne Opera; Showboat, The Production Company and Corrugation Road, Black Swan Theatre.

6 INDIGENOUS CONFERENCE 2016 ART EXHIBITION

The Professor Sir Joseph Burke Gallery's inaugural exhibition

First Light: Indigenous art from the Trinity College Collection

In 2002, Trinity College received a gift of three large Western Desert paintings. The year before the first two Indigenous students had come into residence and the gift was no doubt an encouragement for the College to continue our work in this area.

Trinity's Indigenous art collections took a monumental leap forward in 2007, with Yolngu artists Langani and Rarriwuy Marika visiting College as Indigenous Fellows. From this relationship the student ER White Club the following year commissioned Rarriwuy to produce her work on paper, Milngurr, the sacred waterhole from the Dhuwa Creation at Yalangbara. The same year Jenny Home Marika, wife of the late Wandjuk Marika, and their daughter Mayatili transferred the Mururruma Song Cycle to Trinity, a highly significant narrative depicted across a series of fourteen works in paper.

From these important additions to our holdings Trinity has grown and strengthened its Marika Family and Yolngu art collections, with the support of our alumni community. Today, artists represented include Banduk Marika, Dhuwarrwarr Marika, Rarriwuy, Marika, Langani Marika, Wandjuk Marika, Dhupilawuy Marika, and Milminyina Dhamarrandji.

With the opening of the new Gateway building and The Professor Sir Joseph Burke Gallery's inaugural exhibition, First Light: Indigenous art from the Trinity College Collection, Trinity College has an exciting new space in which to share these important works.

Banduk Marika, Guwulurru, linocut on paper, 2006 © Banduk Marika/ Licensed by Viscopy, 2016

INDIGENOUS CONFERENCE 2016 7 SCHEDULE

FRIDAY 18 NOVEMBER SCHEDULE ACTIVITY LOCATION 8.30am Registration The Bernado Family Atrium 9.00am Welcome The Craig Auditorium Welcome to Country: Aunty Dianne Kerr, Wurundjeri Elder Conference Welcome: Professor Ken Hinchcliff, Trinity College 9.30am Keynote 1 The Craig Auditorium Chair: Professor Marcia Langton Keynote 1: Rachel Perkins, Filmmaker, Producer and Screenwriter 10.30am Morning Tea The Bernado Family Atrium 11.00am Session 1: Transitions and tertiary education The Craig Auditorium Chair: Dr Sana Nakata Paper 1: Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith, University of Waikato A walk across the road or walking the high wire? Why smoothing the transitions for indigenous students is important 12.00pm Lunch The Bernado Family Atrium 1.00pm Session 2: Transitions from secondary to tertiary studies The Craig Auditorium Chair: Rick Tudor Paper 1: Marnie O’Bryan, University of Melbourne The social determinants of education success for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in mainstream Australian boarding schools

Paper 2: Dr David Collis, Trinity College Associate Professor Parshia Lee-Stecum, University of Melbourne Associate Professor Michelle Livett, University of Melbourne The Bachelor of Arts (Extended) and Bachelor of Science (Extended) programs as transition pathways into university studies 3.00pm Afternoon Tea The Bernado Family Atrium 3.30pm Session 3: Student forum with Stan Grant The Craig Auditorium Chair: Stan Grant, Journalist and Author Trinity College students: Eloise Bentley, Wiradjuri Douglas Briggs, Yorta Yorta Neerim Callope, Gkuthaarn and Kirrae Whurrong Alexandra Hohoi, Comet Tribe, Murray Island, Torres Strait 4.30 - 5.15pm Trinity Indigenous art discussion: The Craig Auditorium Professor Robyn Sloggett Professor Marcia Langton Rurriwuy Marika and Dhuwarrwarr Marika 6.00pm Conference Dinner: Reception The Sir Joseph Burke Gallery 7.00pm Conference Dinner Trinity Dining Hall

8 INDIGENOUS CONFERENCE 2016 SATURDAY 19 NOVEMBER SCHEDULE ACTIVITY LOCATION 8.45am Registration The Bernado Family Atrium 9.00am Keynote 2 The Craig Auditorium Chair: Professor Shaun Ewen Keynote 2: Belinda Duarte, CEO of Culture is Life 10.00am Morning Tea The Bernado Family Atrium 10.30am Session 4: Transitions from undergraduate to higher degrees The Craig Auditorium Chair: Professor Richard James Paper 1: Lilly Brown, University of Melbourne & Trinity College Supporting Indigenous students as intellectual strategists: A challenge for higher education

Paper 2: Professor Elizabeth McKinley, University of Melbourne To the highest degree: Indigenous students transitioning to higher degree education

Paper 3: Professor Shaun Ewen, University of Melbourne Transitions in the health professions: A story of a job half done 12.00pm Lunch The Bernado Family Atrium 1.00pm Session 5: Role and value of collegiate education in supporting transition to The Craig Auditorium tertiary study and in contributing to retention and academic success.

Chair: Charles O’Leary Paper 1: Campbell Bairstow, Trinity College, University of Melbourne Building Secure and Respectful Communities

Paper 2: Phillippa Connelly and Emily James, Medley Hall, University of Melbourne Settler Friendly, Straight Friendly

Paper 3: Lynn Webber, St Catherine’s College, University of Western Australia The Deadly Dandjoo Darbalung Mob

Paper 4: David Spears, Shalom College, University of New South Wales ‘Outcomes for an Equitable Society’: Sidelining disadvantage and achieving academic parity through the Shalom Gamarada Program 3.00pm Afternoon Tea The Bernado Family Atrium

3:30pm Summation The Craig Auditorium Professor Ian Anderson, Conference Chair, University of Melbourne

4:00pm Conference Ends

INDIGENOUS CONFERENCE 2016 9 ABSTRACTS

BAIRSTOW, Campbell Deputy Warden and Residential Dean, Trinity College, University of Melbourne BUILDING SECURE AND RESPECTFUL COMMUNITIES Since 2002 more than 100 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island students, from all over the nation, have resided at Trinity College and studied at the University of Melbourne. This paper addresses the key matter of building secure and respectful residential environments in which Indigenous students are likely to thrive personally and succeed academically. The approaches and actions of the College in building communities in the past 15 years will be explained briefly and critiqued, with the ambitions of explaining what has been learned by the institution and the staff, and of examining why students and Trinity have not always succeeded. Key factors to be considered include readiness for learning at the tertiary level, personal resilience and likelihood to thrive in the close community of a residential college, the importance of orientation and expectations, and the need for financial resources and security. This paper will be an honest examination of an institution’s ambitions and progress in encouraging and enabling the university education of young Indigenous women and men.

BIO Campbell Bairstow is the Deputy Warden and Residential Dean of Trinity College in the University of Melbourne. He has been closely engaged with education initiatives and residential life for Indigenous university students for more than ten years. He is the head of Indigenous programs at Trinity, and works closely with the University and other partner organisations to support and inspire students to succeed at the tertiary level.

BROWN, Lilly PhD Candidate, Indigenous Education & Youth Research Centre, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne, Subject Coordinator, Bachelor of Arts Extended (Ideas & Society), Trinity College SUPPORTING INDIGENOUS STUDENTS AS INTELLECTUAL STRATEGISTS: A CHALLENGE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION In this paper I reflect on my experience as both an Indigenous doctoral candidate and an educator within a tertiary pathway program for Indigenous students. In doing so, I ask: is the university ready to receive and support Indigenous students who have made the intellectual and strategic decision to enter into higher education?

Discourses of inclusion work in relation to the (neo)liberal standardising and historically universalising agenda of higher education and research as Indigenous academics, students, settler advocates and the communities (including on-campus communities) we create and are part of, continue to unsettle the conditions of entry and existence that regulate the space of the university. In response to this agenda, Indigenous young people globally are making the strategic decision to engage with the broader politic via participation in higher education. Yet Indigenous university students, both undergraduate and graduate, are predominantly understood according to liberal notions of retention, success and achievement in response to discourses of disadvantage, underrepresentation and absence. Indigenous young people completing post-secondary study thus inhabit a curious in-between space within theory, research, education practice and policy. They have almost made it, but not quite yet; they are perhaps not disadvantaged (or young) enough for representative claims to be comfortably made on their behalf and are difficult to recognise within the limited and limiting frameworks used to know and make sense of the experience of Indigenous young people. As Indigenous people traverse the boundaries regulating these institutions, they journey—carrying with them the diverse and complex knowledge and experience of their families and communities while re-articulating their own narratives in response. Yet the profundity of these strategic decisions, and the many forms of resistance and responsiveness these re- articulations take, remain under-theorised.

BIO

Lilly belongs to the Gumbaynggirr people of the mid-north coast of NSW and has strong cultural and familial connections to the UK. Lilly is an educator and researcher, currently lecturing at the University of Melbourne in Trinity’s Bachelor of Arts (Extended) program. She is also undertaking a PhD with the Youth Research Centre and Indigenous Education.

10 INDIGENOUS CONFERENCE 2016 COLLIS, Dr David Program Leader, Bachelor of Arts Extended, Lecturer, Bachelor of Arts Extended and Bachelor of Science Extended, Lecturer, Trinity College Foundation Studies, Pathways School, Trinity College

LEE-STECUM, Associate Professor Parshia Associate Professor Parshia Lee-Stecum, Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning) in the Faculty of Arts, Program Direct of the BA

LIVETT, Associate Professor Michelle Associate Professor Michelle Livett, Program Director, Bachelor of Science Extended, University of Melbourne

THE BACHELOR OF ARTS (EXTENDED) AND BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (EXTENDED) PROGRAMS AS TRANSITION PATHWAYS INTO UNIVERSITY STUDIES In this combined presentation, Parshia, Michelle and David give an overview of the Bachelor of Arts (Extended) (BA(Ext)) and the Bachelor of Science (Extended) (BSc(Ext)) programs. The presentation provides an introduction to the establishment of these programs, their curriculum structure, student recruitment and support, and the partnership between the Faculties of Arts and Science, Murrup Barak, and the University Colleges. An aim of this presentation will be to explore key features of the programs that have been vital to its success, such as: the cohort experience that students experience within transition subjects; the support given to the students through Murrup Barak and the ITAS tutoring scheme; the role that living within university colleges plays in the wellbeing of students; and the role of skilled transitional teaching staff drawn from the Trinity College Foundation Studies program and the Faculties of Arts and Science. The presentation will also include a discussion of ongoing opportunities and challenges faced by the programs, in areas such as pedagogical development at the cultural interface in both Arts and Science areas, the linking of undergraduate pathways to postgraduate studies, the need to develop student support structures, and the challenge to maintain program quality in a context of rapid growth.

BIO COLLIS, Dr David

Dr David Collis was a founder of the Bachelor of Arts Extended in 2008/2009, and currently coordinates the teaching staff within the program. He also teaches mathematics within the Bachelor of Science Extended program, as well as within the Foundation Studies program within Trinity College.

LEE-STECUM, Associate Professor Parshia Associate Professor Parshia Lee-Stecum joined the University of Melbourne in 1998 and has been the Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning) in the Faculty of Arts and Program Director of the BA since 2011. He is also a member of the Classics and Archaeology program in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies.

LIVETT, Associate Professor Michelle Associate Professor Michelle Livett has been the Director of the Bachelor of Science since 2009, and also the Bachelor of Science (Extended) since its inception in 2015. She is a lecturer in the first year program of the School of Physics with a strong interest in improving student learning in Physics.

CONNELLY, Phillippa Principal, Medley Hall, University of Melbourne

JAMES, EMILY Student and Medley Hall Resident, University of Melbourne

SETTLER FRIENDLY, STRAIGHT FRIENDLY Medley Hall is the smallest residential college of the University of Melbourne with only 57 students, almost exclusively undergraduates. It is located off-campus, adjacent to the CBD and the Exhibition Gardens. Since a major refurbishment, completed in 2011, Medley has been an active member of the group of four colleges offering residence to students in the

INDIGENOUS CONFERENCE 2016 11 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science Extended courses. Indigenous student numbers have grown steadily and this year 17 Indigenous students, approximately 30% of the College, have been in residence across all years of study and coming from all over Victoria and Australia. Indigenous students have routinely taken positions of responsibility within the community and the recent Student Club elections resulted in four of six executive positions for 2017, including President, going to Indigenous students. Early this year the Student Club voted to change its constitution to include on the executive an Indigenous Representative, to be elected by the Indigenous cohort. In 2015 the senior Indigenous students organised a peer support group, the Black Griffins. Emily James, then a third year BA student, coordinated the group which continues to meet weekly. At the moment, Medley seems to be providing a good place for these students. In this presentation, we will attempt to examine how and why it works, what the challenges are and where we might be heading.

BIO CONNELLY, Phillippa Phillippa Connelly practised and taught social work for many years. She has been Principal of Medley Hall since 2004 and works towards forming a community there which, among many other things, reflects the University's strategic goals for access and equity.

JAMES, Emily Emily James is a Gunditjmara, Yorta-Yorta woman from Victoria. Emily has just completed a Bachelor of the Arts with a major in Indigenous Studies and a minor in Sociology. She is about to finish her term as the University of Melbourne Student Union Indigenous Office Bearer. Emily was a resident of Medley Hall from 2013 till 2016, and held a position on the student committee as the social chair in 2014. In 2015 along with Phillippa founded the Medley Hall Black Griffins, which is her proudest achievement.

EWEN, Professor Shaun Foundation Director of the Melbourne Poche Centre for Indigenous Health, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne TRANSITIONS IN THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS: A STORY OF A JOB HALF DONE Medical Schools in Australia have reached population parity for Indigenous enrolments in medicine. Given it wasn’t until the mid- 1980s that the first Aboriginal person graduated with a medical degree, this is a significant achievement. However, this story of a job half done is the focus on pathways to clinical academics, and the value of, and need for, Indigenous medical researchers. This requires a focus on the pathways to Research Higher Degrees. This presentation will describe recent activities, which help identify pathways for Indigenous people into Research Higher Degree programs.

BIO Professor Ewen is the Foundation Director of the Melbourne Poche Centre for Indigenous Health in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne. As Foundation Director, Professor Ewen provides academic leadership to the Centre and maintains a strong sense of Indigenous leadership in the health and higher education sectors. Professor Ewen has held the position of Associate Dean (Indigenous Development) since its inception in 2010. In this role he was charged with working across the Faculty to oversee the implementation of the Reconciliation Action Plan. He also provides the academic and Indigenous leadership for the Leaders in Indigenous Medical Education (LIME) project, a bi-national project of Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand. Professor Ewen has a clinical background in physiotherapy, and holds postgraduate qualifications in international relations and education. His area of research expertise relates to Indigenous health and health professional education.

12 INDIGENOUS CONFERENCE 2016 McKINLEY, Professor Elizabeth Professor of Indigenous Education, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne TO THE HIGHEST DEGREE: INDIGENOUS STUDENTS TRANSITIONING TO HIGHER DEGREE EDUCATION Indigenous expectations of higher education are nowhere more visible than in the recent dramatic increase in their numbers as higher degree students. This increase in numbers of Indigenous students at higher degree level, coupled with concerns about attrition, retention and completions, means there is increasing pressure on universities to respond to the needs of Indigenous students and encourage pathways beyond undergraduate work. Previous research in the field has indicated that the epistemological and organisational affinities and mappings of academia can intersect, overlap, and collide in complex ways with those of cultural institutions and obligations. This presentation will draw on international research, particularly NZ, to explore the different accounts of how culture and identity intersect with the higher degree education process and how universities can better manage this transition. Some of these accounts relate to various understandings of knowledge, others to matters like research processes, institutional expectations, or access to resources.

BIO Professor McKinley is currently Professor Indigenous Education in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education (MGSE) at the University of Melbourne. Her role is to establish, build and provide leadership to the school’s Indigenous Education Research Centre. Professor McKinley brings extensive experience in leading research, and research and development (R&D) projects with Indigenous students and collaborating with, and drawing on the expertise of, other R&D teams. During her term at Auckland she was a Professor in Māori (Indigenous) Education at the University of Auckland, and the director for The Starpath Project for Tertiary Participation and Success, which is a Partnership for Excellence between the University of Auckland and the government of New Zealand. This 10 year externally funded project has focused on students from schools that serve our low socio-economic communities, particularly Māori (Indigenous) and Pacific Island students. Professor McKinley also co-led a major R&D project to increase the achievement of Māori students in English medium schools. She brings extensive experience in research relating to school wide change for Māori and Pacific students, and in higher education. She has also had extensive experience at research higher degree supervision and postgraduate teaching.

O’BRYAN, Marnie PhD candidate, Graduate School of Education/ School of Population Health, University of Melbourne THE SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF EDUCATION SUCCESS FOR ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER STUDENTS IN MAINSTREAM AUSTRALIAN BOARDING SCHOOLS. This paper emerges from the presenter’s PhD research into the lived experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) students in Australian boarding schools. It will consider the issue of transition in light of social and cultural conditions which young people and their parents describe as respectively enabling or constraining their education endeavours. The role of boarding schools in helping to overcome education disadvantage for First Australian young people has received increasing attention and funding from government, the media and private sector investors in recent years. Notwithstanding policy approaches encouraging, and for some populations even mandating, that students leave home to attend boarding school, little research has sought to understand how ATSI students experience ‘mainstream’ boarding school and what impact it has on later life outcomes for them, their families and communities. It is well understood that a wide range of social factors, ranging from the macro-social to the individual, influence the health of populations generally, and Indigenous populations specifically. Education attainment levels are recognised as one of the social determinants of Indigenous health. By contrast, in education policy, scant regard is paid to the social factors that underpin education engagement and success for First Australian students in predominantly non-Indigenous schools. This paper will argue that rather than a singular focus on preparing students to fit into school systems, more critical attention should be paid to the systems themselves.

BIO Marnie O’Bryan is a PhD candidate at the Graduate School of Education/School of Population Health at the University of Melbourne. Her work explores the lived experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in Australian boarding schools. Prior to undertaking this study, she taught for ten years at a large independent school in Melbourne and directed the ‘Indigenous Partnership Program’ as part of that school’s wider Indigenous program. In 2015 she co-edited the UNESCO

INDIGENOUS CONFERENCE 2016 13 e-journal for Arts Education with Prof Mark Rose, producing two issues focusing on Indigenous education in Australia. She currently coordinates the Victorian Indigenous Education Network of Independent and Catholic schools, and sits on the Indigenous Education Focus Group for the Centre for Strategic Education.

SMITH, Professor Linda Tuhiwai Pro Vice Chancellor Māori, Professor of Education and Māori Development, University of Waikato A WALK ACROSS THE ROAD OR WALKING THE HIGH WIRE? WHY SMOOTHING THE TRANSITIONS FOR INDIGENOUS STUDENTS IS IMPORTANT This paper discusses some of the challenges and opportunties for ensuring that Indigenous students transition into higher education without needing to call upon some hidden reservoir of indigenous resiliency or survival instincts. Transitions for many indigenous students can be fraught at every level of the education system from early childhood to doctoral studies. There can be academic, social, cultural and institutional factors that make the transition problematic. These barriers can sometimes be minimised as character building, or as ‘this is what you do to survive’ rather than being seen as barriers to successful transition that should be recognised and mitigated. Most indigenous students are breaking through multiple glass ceilings by attending University and are being students while also carrying expectations and resonsibilities on their shoulders ‘for their people’. I will use learnings from different international contexts, New Zealand, Canada and Hawaii that have tried to smooth the transitions for indigenous students entering and succeeding at University.

BIO Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith is Professor of Education and Māori Development and Pro Vice Chancellor Māori at the University of Waikato. She has worked in the academic field of Māori and Indigenous Education for many years. Professor Smith recently stayed at Trinity College while a Visiting Professor in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education.

SPEARS, David Program Director, Shalom Gamarada Indigenous Residential Scholarship Program ‘OUTCOMES FOR AN EQUITABLE SOCIETY’: SIDELINING DISADVANTAGE AND ACHIEVING ACADEMIC PARITY THROUGH THE SHALOM GAMARADA PROGRAM The Shalom Gamarada Indigenous Residential Scholarship Program operates at Shalom College, a not-for-profit organisation, on the campus at University of New South Wales. The program provides care and accommodation to Indigenous students who largely come from under-privileged and non-academic backgrounds. The flow of Indigenous university graduates entering the professions and broader workforce is gaining pace and Shalom Gamarada has been an active contributor to that trend. Since our first ‘win’ in 2009, a total of 27 students have graduated, most of them living as full scholarship recipients for 4 to 5 years of their studies. 16 have graduated as doctors with a mix of other professions including lawyers, an architect, and an optometrist. We work closely with Nura Gili, UNSW’s Indigenous Program Unit and scholarship candidates are generally put forward by them or the Faculties themselves when they see hardship interfering with performance. From our earliest days it has been important to recognise the type and depth of disadvantage experienced by our students, and their emotional responses on arrival and throughout their university years. By removing the financial and logistical obstacles, going some way to levelling the playing field, and enabling the individual’s self-motivation to take effect, we are seeing students achieve the highest academic levels. Pass rates are currently tracking above 90% which is higher than university averages for all students. We have 20 scholarship holders in this year’s cohort. With a target of 25 students in 2017, we are hoping to gain funding from governments for what we believe is a highly effective and transformative program.

BIO David enjoyed a thirty year career in international media, specializing in advertising, sales and marketing. His last years in the corporate sector were spent managing a graduate recruitment organisation serving the media and pharmaceutical industries. On retirement in 2007 David offered his voluntary services to Shalom Gamarada, which has led to a more formal role as Program Director.

14 INDIGENOUS CONFERENCE 2016 WEBBER, Lynn Dandjoo Darbalung Program Coordinator, St Catherine’s College, WA THE DEADLY DANDJOO DARBALUNG MOB The Dandjoo Darbalung Program at St Catherine's College is a culturally informed tertiary model aimed at transitioning Indigenous students who study away from home into university and employment. Dandjoo Darbalung translates as ‘mixing together’ in Whadjuk, Nyoongar. In 2016, our ‘mob’ of 60 Indigenous residents and 20 Alumni, from saltwater and freshwater countries, leave their homes to study and mix together with international and Australian residents at the College. Since 2012, the program has maintained a 94% university retention rate for Indigenous students from remote and regional areas enrolled at Perth’s universities. The Academic Program employs secondary trained teachers, Indigenous and graduate tutors. It opens doors to employment opportunities through paid work experience, industry partnerships and program networks. Students are financially supported through Abstudy, scholarships, cadetships, vacation work and employment. Each year 30 students choose to volunteer during holidays to mentor secondary Indigenous students in 7 regional and remote schools to role model educational success. Dandjoo Darbalung’s success is embedded in 4 key elements: Culture, Belonging, Community and Identity. The program receives support from community Elders and the Indigenous Advisory Council. Through partnerships with local Indigenous organisations, the program seeks to strengthen and revive the students’ cultural identity, to grow their capacity for academic excellence and cultural leadership. The Dandjoo Darbalung model has taken Indigenous education in a University residential college into a new space, with access to cultural and leadership events, community led yarning campfire circles and culturally sensitive counselling. By saying yes to these opportunities, Dandjoo Darbalung graduate leaders can be the change they want to see in their communities and in Australia.

BIO Upon completion of her post graduate studies in Indigenous education, Lynn collaborated with Indigenous communities in secondary and tertiary education settings to develop programs that strengthen cultural identity and academic success. In 2012, St Catherine’s College adopted this unique program model, growing from 6 to 60 students over five years.

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