Media Release

In an historic step towards self-empowerment for Indigenous people the Prime Minister John Howard and Commonwealth Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs, Dr David Kemp, today released details of Australia’s first National Indigenous Literacy and Numeracy Strategy.

"Indigenous Australians must have the same opportunities educationally as non-Indigenous Australians," said Dr Kemp.

Launched at the Western Sydney Community Aboriginal Corporation at Minchinbury in Sydney’s outer west, the launch was attended by a number of prominent Australians who will act as Ambassadors for literacy and numeracy education for Indigenous students, including:

• Jimmy Little (Entertainer and 1999 inductee into the ARIA Hall of Fame)
• Cliff Lyons (Australian Rugby League football hero)
• May O’Brien (Chair of WA Aboriginal Education and Training Council)
• Tiga Bayles (Indigenous radio personality)
• Dr Ngiare Brown (Doctor at Prince of Wales Hospital and involved in World Vision)
• Kevin Coombs (Wheelchair basketballer)
• Shayne Blackman (Minister of the Uniting Church)
• Joe Ross (Chair of Bunuba Inc – investment/ eco-tourism/ live cattle exporting)
• Eric Wynne (recently elected ATSIC Commissioner)

"This strategy reflects the united determination of Indigenous leaders, parents and communities to lift the educational standards of Indigenous students to at least those of the general community," said Dr Kemp.

"We have been humbled at the depth of emotion and personal interest that has been expressed by all people - Indigenous and non-Indigenous - who have had input into this strategy.

"In particular, our Ambassadors have told of personal experiences where being able to read and write was the key to opening a world of opportunities and empowering them to become the role models they are today for other Indigenous Australians," said Dr Kemp.

The Strategy focuses on the literacy and numeracy skills of Indigenous students and other factors that influence levels of achievement, particularly school attendance.

The six key elements of the strategy are:

• lifting Indigenous school attendance rates to national levels;
• effectively addressing hearing and other health problems that undermine learning for many Indigenous students;
• enhancing pre-school opportunities;
• training sufficient teachers in skills and cultural awareness to operate effectively and stay for extended periods in Indigenous communities;
• ensuring that teaching methods used are the most effective; and
• having clear measures of success as the basis for accountability for schools and teachers.

"Funding for the implementation of the Strategy will come from both the Commonwealth’s programmes of recurrent assistance for schools and from specific supplementary arrangements to support improved outcomes for Indigenous students," said Dr Kemp.

$27 million will be allocated specifically to support the implementation of the strategy.

"This strategy is a significant component of our overarching national push to provide literacy and numeracy skills for all Australians, no matter whether Indigenous or non-Indigenous, child or adult, employed or unemployed," said Dr Kemp.

"I am delighted that my colleague, the Commonwealth Minister for Health, Dr Michael Wooldridge, has also committed to this strategy, with a further $2 million from the Health portfolio to trial nutrition approaches and other health elements of the Strategy.

"By ensuring that Indigenous young people can read and write, we can give them a head start in life and reduce the risk of unemployment, engagement in criminal activities and welfare dependency.

"Schools must be places where Indigenous students want to be and want to learn. Students will not build their literacy and numeracy skills unless schools are seen as welcoming and inclusive places," said Dr Kemp.

"The Strategy will extend across pre-school and school systems. Education providers will be encouraged to adopt approaches to teaching that have been shown to make a real difference, building on the initiatives already being implemented in schools across the country."

Copies of strategy document can be found at the following website: http://www.detya.gov.au/schools/publications/index.htm

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