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The Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success acknowledges Indigenous peoples across Australia as the Traditional Owners of the lands on which the nation’s campuses are situated. With a history spanning more than 60,000 years as the original educators, Indigenous peoples hold a unique place in our nation. We recognise the importance of their knowledge and culture, and reflect the principles of participation, equity, and cultural respect in our work. We pay our respects to Elders past, present, and future, and consider it an honour to learn from our Indigenous colleagues, partners, and friends.

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You are reading: Maintaining connection to family, culture and community: implications for remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pathways into higher education

James Smith, Michael Bullot, Veronica Kerr, Dean Yibarbuk, Millie Olcay and Fiona Shalley

Published in Rural Society
May 2018

Abstract

Maintaining connections to family, culture and community is essential for strengthening an Aboriginal child’s educational achievements. The Australian Bureau of Statistics collects self-reported information on a range of factors that can assist in understanding what influences Aboriginal children to complete school. The 2014–2015 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS) provides a national snapshot about how various characteristics influence the educational experience of Aboriginal children in remote Australia. In this article, findings from NATSISS have been used to interrogate qualitative data from the Whole of Community Engagement initiative led by Charles Darwin University. This is a multi-site participatory action research project working across six remote communities in the Northern Territory, Australia. We use Indigenous community perspectives to describe why maintaining connection to family, culture and community is important for both Aboriginal high school completions in remote Australia, and the subsequent impact this has on pathways into higher education.

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