News

May 9, 2016

IRU supports Labor’s Indigenous teaching focus

Innovative Research Universities (IRU) supports the Australian Labor party’s commitment to provide 400 new indigenous teaching scholarships if elected to Government. Increasing the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers is crucial to raising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students’ educational attainment levels.

The announcement was a recommendation of the More Support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Initiative of which IRU indigenous leader, Professor Mark Rose was part. It follows through on Recommendation #4 of the Behrendt Review in 2012, that the Australian Government work with state and territory education departments to ensure that career advisers and teachers encourage indigenous students to consider higher education as a post-school option.

The IRU members are universities of choice for both Indigenous staff and students promoting understanding of Indigenous Knowledges in education, research and policy.

  • IRU members educate 19% of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders students.
  • 2.1% of all our students are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders against a national parity target of 2.3% and overall sector achievement of 1.4%.
  • 1.1% of IRU completions are by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders against overall sector achievement of 0.8%.
  • IRU employs 17% of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders staff working in Australian universities.

IRU members are signatories to the IRU Statement of Intent. The Statement of Intent is a landmark document for both IRU and the sector as a whole. It sets out how IRU members go beyond achieving parity of enrolment and employment to integrate Indigenous knowledges into university teaching and research.