Contemporary Australia: Women

39 New challenges in Indigenous affairs school. He reminded the delegates at the Australia 2020 Summit that about 50 per cent of Indigenous Australians are under the age of 20. That’s 260 000 children and youth, and, of these, about 35 per cent are under the age of 14. ‘If we want to close the gap and are serious about making long‑term and permanent change to address the profound disadvantage facing our Indigenous brothers and sisters, we must focus on the children,’ said Penfold. He is right, and that is why he has attracted strong support from corporate partners and leaders to ensure there are scholarships for children to attend private schools. It is obvious, as he points out, that private schools would need to find thousands of places to close the gap in Indigenous education. This is why he also proposes that the government provides annual incentive payments to all schools that achieve success in Indigenous education by enrolling students, keeping them at school and ensuring that they complete school. Such measurable and objective benchmarks should determine the level of payments that would be used to pay for scholarships, Indigenous staff and other costs associated with Indigenous education within each school. Many excuses have been made for the extraordinary unemployment levels among Indigenous people. One of the tired old excuses is the remoteness of the thousands of small Aboriginal communities in the outback, where there are few jobs. However, Treasury Secretary Dr Ken Henry has pointed out: ‘Almost three‑quarters of Indigenous Australians live in cities and regional centres, the vast bulk of which have thriving labour markets.’ When Andrew Forrest, administration of Aboriginal affairs. In the past 15 years, almost 500 agreements have been negotiated with Indigenous people and the mining and resources industry. As a result, the first substantial Aboriginal industrial workforce has grown from a small number to more than 3000 employed in the mining industry at the end of last year. It is imperative that young Aboriginal people do not enter the welfare poverty trap, that they have a sense of hope and plans for their future that do not include a life of unemployment. This is why education, training and jobs are needed, and this is why Aboriginal people need to take the difficult step of leaving the welfare way of life behind — the future of young Aboriginal people depends on it. They need to stay at school until year 12 or go into a job training program. We need policies that stop the easy slide into welfare poverty. Several leading thinkers have provided the inspiration and clear, bold thinking about the way forward. It was Noel Pearson who led the way in 2006 with the Welfare Reform Program designed by the Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership. One of its most important planks is the education program, Higher Expectations, which has ensured that youth from Cape York attend private schools and university. More than 50 students whose life chances were severely limited before this program started are now performing well. Andrew Penfold left his career in law and banking to provide schooling for disadvantaged Aboriginal students in New South Wales. He chairs the St Joseph’s College Indigenous Fund and has led a remarkable program that offers scholarships to Aboriginal youth to attend Judy Watson Australia b.1959 Waanyi people salt in the wound (detail) 2009 Installation view, ‘Bad and Doubtful Debts’, Milani Gallery, 2009 Photograph: Carl Warner Courtesy: The artist and Milani Gallery, Brisbane Opposite salt in the wound (detail) 2008 Installation view, ‘Shards’, South Australia School of Art Gallery, Adelaide, 2008 Photograph: Michal Kluvanek Courtesy: The artist and Milani Gallery, Brisbane