Postive childhood and transition to adulthood
An individual's transition from childhood to adulthood is a time of both challenge and opportunity. The Australian Government is determined to assist the efforts of young Indigenous people by supporting educational outcomes from childhood education through to adulthood. It is vital for young Indigenous people to access the new opportunities resulting from the past decade's strong economic growth.
Educational financial assistance is offered to Indigenous students studying approved secondary or tertiary education courses and the government provides schools and institutions with funding for strategies to improve access, participation, retention and the success of Indigenous students.
Educational programmes target the crucial role of positive activities in building youth leadership, confidence and self-esteem. Activities supported include organised sport, arts and community group initiatives. Employment options for an individual will increase with additional education, new skills or training opportunities that enable young people to succeed and thrive in their local communities.
Employment of Indigenous people as teachers provides valuable role models for young people. By the end of 2005 the number of Indigenous teachers and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education workers in schools had risen to 3,596.
Outcomes
- Indigenous students' performance for Year 5 and Year 7 fluctuated between 1999 and 2005 against the national reading, writing and numeracy benchmarks, with no statistically significant trend.
- An increasing number of Indigenous students have enrolled in postgraduate and undergraduate courses between 2001 and 2006.
- Indigenous Australian apprenticeship completions increased 2,510 to 3,510 from 2002 to 2006.
Key programmes
Aboriginal Study Assistance Scheme
The Aboriginal Study Assistance Scheme provides a means-tested living allowance and some supplementary benefits to eligible full-time secondary and tertiary Indigenous students. Students taking less than a full-time load may be eligible for part-time secondary benefits.
Expenditure 2006–07: $155.6 million.
Outputs 2006–07:
- 55,200 recipients in 2006
- from January to December 2006 tertiary recipients numbered 17,325
- from January to December 2006 secondary recipients numbered 37,900.
Indigenous Support Programme
The Indigenous Support Programme (ISP) provides funding to higher education institutions to help them meet the specific needs of Indigenous students.
The types of activities supported under ISP include the establishment of Indigenous support/education centres, assistance with study skills, personal counselling and cultural awareness activities.
Expenditure 2006–07: $31.7 million.
Outputs 2006–07:
Indigenous Tutorial Assistance Scheme
The Indigenous Tutorial Assistance Scheme (ITAS) provides eligible Indigenous students with supplementary tutorial assistance at crucial stages of schooling. Elements of the scheme include in-class tuition-literacy and numeracy tuition in the classroom-as well as Year 9, 10, 11 and 12 tuition which occurs outside school time or during study periods.
ITAS can provide one year of supplementary tuition for Indigenous school students in the first year they are away from their remote community to attend school in a non-remote location or to attend a remote boarding school. Tertiary tuition funding is provided to education institutions that organise supplementary tuition for eligible students studying university award level courses and Australian Qualifications Framework accredited vocational education and training (VET) courses at the institution.
In the 2006 Budget two new elements were announced:
- Year 9 tuition, which builds on the tuition available for Year 10, 11 and 12 students
- VET tuition, available to Indigenous students undertaking VET courses which lead to the attainment of a Certificate III or above qualification.
Expenditure 2006–07: $58.624 million.
Outputs 2006–07:
- in-class tuition agreements in place with eligible government education providers (all except the Australian Capital Territory)
- 51 agreements in place with non-government education providers for in-class tuition
- 40 institutions received ITAS tertiary tuition funding.
Indigenous Youth Leadership Programme
Progressive implementation of 200 secondary and 50 tertiary scholarships under the Indigenous Youth Leadership Programme (IYLP) continued in 2006–07. The IYLP provides young, talented Indigenous students-mainly from remote areas-with the opportunity to study at high performing schools to support and develop their academic and leadership skills. The rollout of the scholarships will continue in future years.
In May 2007 the IYLP National Education Providers Forum was attended by 32 school representatives.
In June 2007 the IYLP National Student Leadership Forum held in Melbourne was attended by 137 Indigenous students. The forum provided students with leadership experience and networking opportunities.
Expenditure 2006–07: $1.999 million.
Outputs 2006–07:
- 126 secondary and 15 tertiary students studied with support from an IYLP scholarship
- 35 secondary schools were selected as IYLP education providers.
Indigenous Youth Mobility Programme
During 2006–07, FaCSIA continued to consolidate the Indigenous Youth Mobility Programme (IYMP). Through the IYMP Indigenous young people aged 16–24 from remote areas can, with the support of their families, relocate to one of 10 host locations to complete the qualifications they need for sustainable employment. Pre-vocational training, Australian apprenticeships, certificate courses delivered through registered training organisations and some tertiary pathways including nursing, teaching, accounting and business management, are the focus of the IYMP in recognition of a high demand for these qualifications in remote communities.
Expenditure 2006–07: $2.666 million.
Outputs 2006–07:
- 186 young people participated in the IYMP
- two-thirds of programme participation was at Certificate III level and above.
Away from Base
Away from Base funding assists education institutions to meet the costs of travel, meals and accommodation for students or staff away from their normal place of residence as part of a ‘mixed mode' course of study (a combination of distance and face-to-face education).
Expenditure 2006–07: $33.837 million.
Outputs 2006–07:
Sporting Chance
The Sporting Chance programme provides funding for school-based sporting academies to engage young Indigenous people in a range of sports and activities. The aim of the initiative is to use sport as motivation to improve the educational outcomes of Indigenous students, particularly those deemed at risk of an early exit from school.
Thirteen academies began operating from early in the first school term of 2007. One academy is in the Northern Territory, one in South Australia, three in Western Australia, four in Queensland and four in New South Wales. The academies cater for both male and female students and cover a number of sports, their related activities and educational activities such as life skills, mentoring, leadership, career planning and vocational training. The academies work in partnership with support from the Australian, state and territory governments, sports bodies, community groups and business.
Expenditure 2006–07: $1.244 million.
Outputs 2006–07:
- more than 1,600 Indigenous secondary school students participated in 13 academies nationally.
National Indigenous Cadetship Project
The Australian Government is committed to providing development and career opportunities to Indigenous Australians by actively participating in the National Indigenous Cadetship Project, which is a feature of the Australian Government's Indigenous Employment Policy and is sponsored by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.
The cadetship involves a minimum 12-week training placement during each year of study, aimed at providing valuable on the job work experience in preparation for full-time employment. At the completion of studies, and subject to satisfactory performance during the cadetship, the cadet will be offered full-time employment at the APS 3 level. Those cadets who have demonstrated appropriate qualities during their cadetship may be offered a position on the department's Graduate Development Programme.
Tiwi College Construction
The Australian Government has contributed $13.9 million towards the construction of a new community managed boarding college for 200 secondary students across Year 7 to Year 12 in the Tiwi Islands, to be located at Pickertaramoor, Melville Island.
Construction of the college commenced mid-2007 for initial intake at the beginning of the 2008 school year. Students in the Tiwi Islands have had limited options for secondary schooling and need to go to boarding schools on the mainland to complete Year 11 and Year 12, which often leads to high drop-out rates.
National Indigenous Development Centre
Each year, more than 5,000 young Indigenous people from across Australia will benefit from the Indigenous Land Corporation's (ILC) strategic acquisition in October 2006 of the former Redfern Public School site.
The 1.63 hectare site was purchased from the New South Wales Government for $14.8 million and is being redeveloped as the National Indigenous Development Centre, which will provide education, sporting and leadership development programmes for thousands of young Indigenous people.
The centre will provide affordable accommodation and dining facilities for up to 100 people, a sports training field, multi-use classrooms and a 25-metre outdoor heated pool.