Education Inequality and Indigenous Australians

The characteristics of, and motivations for, Indigenous student mobility: Examples from urban and regional Queensland, Australia

“…As can be seen, the majority of Indigenous students moved from a school that was in the Cityedge area. Paralleling many Indigenous populations around the globe (May & Aikman, 2003) educational disadvantage remains a key experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, located in a history of colonisation, dislocation and racism (Helme, 2007). Australia has moved toward a reconciliation plan with Indigenous peoples, with investment in educational reform to address the ongoing issues of disadvantage.…”

Career Decision-Making: What Matters to Indigenous Australians?

“…As Long (2009) indicated, in 2008 young Indigenous Australians were about half as likely as their non-Indigenous counterparts to remain at school until Year 12 (46% compared to 74%). He also noted that this gap has declined introDuCtion While a great amount of information is available on Indigenous disadvantage in education, training and employment (see Helme, 2007 for an overview), few studies focus on the experiences of Indigenous people themselves. This article attempts to provide such a focus, by bringing together the findings of three commissioned research projects undertaken by the Centre for Post-Compulsory Education and Lifelong Learning (CPELL) at the University of Melbourne.…”

“…Racism, an enduring social obstacle, has been shown in numerous studies to have a major impact on educational and employment outcomes for Indigenous people (Helme, 2005;2007). Personal racism includes racist taunts and physical violence, while institutional racism is manifest in the failure to acknowledge the culture of Indigenous people within the everyday practices of educational institutions, as well as in low expectations of Indigenous students themselves.…”

“…Highly coordinated individual case management is a central pillar of effective career development support for Indigenous people (Alford & James, 2007;Helme, 2007;Lamb & Rice, 2009). These studies recommended strong advocacy by career personnel and liaison with external agencies, so that Indigenous students not only have access to information about financial assistance, scholarships and other forms of support, but are also supported in accessing such resources.…”