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