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Professor Peter Shergold AC Review Panel Chair Review of Senior Secondary Pathways into Work, Further Education and Training Dear Professor Shergold AC, RE: Batchelor Institute Submission to Review of Senior Secondary Pathways into Work, Further Education and Training. Batchelor Institute is pleased to be able to contribute to this important Review. Our response seeks to draw attention to the myriad of reasons and ways in which pathways into work, further education and training can more restricted and limited for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in comparison with the rest of Australia's student cohort and opportunities to address these current deficiencies. We were delighted to have had the opportunity to meet and discuss these matters with Dr Don Zoellner at a recent meeting with him. This meeting assisted towards shaping our understanding of the Review. Setting the Scene – Batchelor Institute As background to our organisation, the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education (Batchelor Institute) is constituted under the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education Act for the specific purpose of being “an educational institution for the tertiary education of Indigenous people of Australia”. As such, the Institute’s entire business focus and operations are centred around attracting and fulfilling the educational, training and research needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. It is also important to note that the Batchelor Institute was established for benevolent reasons. The Institute is a Not For Profit (NFP) organisation and, in addition, the Institute has Deductible Gift Recipient status. The Institute has a 45-year long and proud history of providing education and training to one of the most disadvantaged sections of the Australian population. The Institute started out providing vocational education and training, and from these strong foundations we expanded into the provision of higher education courses. 1 Batchelor Campus C/O Post Office, Batchelor NT 0845 Central Australian Campus PO Box 9170, Alice Springs NT 0871 ABN 32 039 179 166 Freecall 1800 677 095 Email [email protected] batchelor.edu.au

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Professor Peter Shergold AC

Review Panel Chair

Review of Senior Secondary Pathways into Work, Further Education and Training

Dear Professor Shergold AC,

RE: Batchelor Institute Submission to Review of Senior Secondary Pathways into Work, Further Education and Training.

Batchelor Institute is pleased to be able to contribute to this important Review. Our response seeks to draw attention to the myriad of reasons and ways in which pathways into work, further education and training can more restricted and limited for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in comparison with the rest of Australia's student cohort and opportunities to address these current deficiencies.

We were delighted to have had the opportunity to meet and discuss these matters with Dr Don Zoellner at a recent meeting with him. This meeting assisted towards shaping our understanding of the Review.

Setting the Scene – Batchelor Institute

As background to our organisation, the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education (Batchelor Institute) is constituted under the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education Act for the specific purpose of being “an educational institution for the tertiary education of Indigenous people of Australia”. As such, the Institute’s entire business focus and operations are centred around attracting and fulfilling the educational, training and research needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. It is also important to note that the Batchelor Institute was established for benevolent reasons. The Institute is a Not For Profit (NFP) organisation and, in addition, the Institute has Deductible Gift Recipient status.

The Institute has a 45-year long and proud history of providing education and training to one of the most disadvantaged sections of the Australian population. The Institute started out providing vocational education and training, and from these strong foundations we expanded into the provision of higher education courses.

Today Batchelor Institute is the only Table A Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Higher Education Provider in Australia. We provide training and education in environments that are often extremely challenging. These environments are not experienced by other tertiary institutions including VET RTOs, Universities or Higher Education Providers in Australia.

As a dual sector provider, the Institute currently provides:

· Vocational Education and Training programs (primarily to regional and remote NT Aboriginal students).

· a Batchelor-delivered set of units into enabling undergraduate courses of Charles Darwin University (CDU).

· Higher Degree by Research (HDR) training through Masters by Research and PhD programmes.

Batchelor’s ‘Both-Ways’ philosophy defines the way in which the Institute works and teaches. It is demonstrably a First Nations approach to teaching and interacting where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of doing inform a Western educational system. The result is a culturally secure approach for both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and other peoples such that learning and achievement are synonymous.

Senior Secondary Pathways Review1. What are the essential skills and knowledge with which young people should leave secondary school in order to enhance their lifetime career prospects whilst meeting Australia’s future workforce needs? Whose job is it to make sure they acquire them?

The essential skills for young people exiting formal education can be grouped into academic skills and psycho-social skills. Schools primary objective is to develop academic abilities, specifically Standard Australian English (SAE) language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) which are heavily emphasised in national testing (see Naplan). In order to access further education and career pathways a minimum academic standard is required. Currently, a significant proportion of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are falling short of this academic standard (Closing the Gap, 2019). Consequently, future career prospects are limited.

The academic gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander and non-Indigenous students is widely reported and often attributed to attendance differences. Consequently, government policy has tackled this with punitive school attendance policies. Prout-Quicke and Biddle (2017) argue that such policies have been detrimental to school belonging, which research has noted as a significant factor in educational outcomes.

There is much evidence to suggest that students’ school belonging is positively related to their psychological well-being, academic outcomes and future career aspirations (Jose et al., 2012; Allen et al., 2018 and Wong et al., 2019). Students’ ethnicity and culture and how it is viewed/valued/devalued by the student and the school environment has been found to have a significant impact on students’ sense of school belonging (Thijs et al. 2018 and Bottiani, 2017). To illustrate, The Programme for International Student Assessment (2018) found Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students have significantly lower school belonging scores than their non-Indigenous peers. Evidence suggests that improving school belonging positively correlates to increases in attendance, well-being and school achievement in Indigenous pupils. Consequently, improving school belonging may help decrease Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students’ educational disadvantage and in doing so, open educational and career pathways which are currently inaccessible.

Psycho-social skills

An important psycho-social skill for all young people is resilience. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people resilience is strongly tied to culture, connection to country, kinship, and community (Priest et al., 2012, Young et al., 2017). Resultantly, promotion of a strong cultural identity has been shown to be an important component in enhancing social and emotional wellbeing (Macedo et al., 2019). It is essential that educational institutions incorporate and promote Indigeneity within their institutions if they are to maximise the well-being of Indigenous people.

First Nation people are often viewed through a deficit discourse lens, which is damaging to self-image. Rather than viewing disadvantage as a result of a person’s makeup a shift must occur whereby environmental and systematic influences are foregrounded. Otherwise, negative self-image becomes a young person’s future. Tarbetsky et al. (2016) support this claim noting that Indigenous students’ self-beliefs of intelligence, believed to be derived from societal deficit thinking, were strong predictors of academic outcomes.

The ability to dream/aspire to, and possession of the confidence required to achieve set personal goals in the future is fundamental to young (and not so young) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s journeys towards self-determination and independence for themselves, their families, their community and country.

Lastly, a further essential skill is young people’s ability to switch between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Western systems. This will be explored in question four.

Who is responsible?

It would be mutually beneficial for schools, communities and the business sector to ensure that the aforementioned skills are developed. The wellbeing of young people is a societal responsibility. These essential skills and knowledges must be afforded to all young people regardless of their ethnicity and culture, socioeconomic status or the educational pathway they chose.

Educational institutions are situated within a broader ecological system (see Bronfenbrenner ecological system model, 1979). As such, schools influence is determined and directed by numerous interrelated factors, such as funding and societal attitudes. Stone et al. (2017) suggest that historical institutional racism, negative stereotypes and inter-generational formal schooling experiences of Indigenous people are key contributors in Indigenous educational disadvantage. Without tackling these pervasive societal beliefs and experiences, school’s ability to improve SAE LLN is compromised. This on-going under-performance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in the schooling sector is a clear breach of the statutory obligations that Education Departments accept upon the enrolment of students… that they will be provided and exit with the skills, knowledge and capabilities to make informed decisions regarding their future.

2. Are current arrangements both in schools, at work, and in tertiary education supporting students to access the most appropriate pathways? Re-entry from disengagement

It has been noted that significant numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students disengage from formal education by year 9 (Closing the Gap report, 2019). The reasons for disengagement are numerous and include socioeconomic factors, low school belonging, negative family and community experiences with the formal education system, and the growing academic gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and their school peers. As a result of early disengagement, current pathways for future careers are limited until the student decides to re-engage with the formal learning environment as an adult.

Currently, there is a perception that a student’s success in formal schooling will create sure pathways to further education and employment. In contrast, disengaged student pathways become invisible and are ‘relegated’ to employment and education options which are deemed inferior. The major concern is that once young people fall out of the formal schooling structure, the pathways to reengage with further education become limited. This is in part due to the low expectations placed on young people in alternative settings, along with a lack of clear interlinking pathways between educational systems.

Common examples given include Vocational Educational and Training (VET) courses which Joyce (2019) suggests are considered less prestigious. These messages are pervasive, despite the many examples of excellent career pathways studying a VET course can bring about for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (and non-Indigenous) people. For example, careers in trades, the fields of health and caring, conservation and land management (land and sea rangers) and mining to name but a few. Further, this commentary doesn’t acknowledge that the VET sector is a viable pathway for those Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students who are graduating with a Year 12 pass and/or a VETiS qualification.

Engagement with the Higher Education System

The Review of Higher Education and Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People Final report (2012), chaired by Professor Larissa Behrendt, highlighted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are eight times more likely to be enrolled in a VET course than a university course.

It suggests more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will need to be supported to enter the higher education system through other pathways, particularly the workforce and VET system. Universities and employers could further build on existing partnerships and explore new ones to provide financial and other support to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the workforce to take up university studies. To improve pathways from the VET sector to university, VET students need to be encouraged and supported to enrol in higher-level VET courses (Certificate IV and above) as they can act as a pathway to higher education.

The Behrendt Review suggested that special entry arrangements and credit transfer for courses completed need to be further developed, alongside work with employers and professional associations to encourage them to support their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees to undertake higher education, inclusive of cadetship models, scholarships and flexible leave arrangements. Extended alternative pathways into higher education including pursuing better credit transfer arrangements between VET and universities, pursuing delivery partnerships and ensuring that VET providers are promoting higher education as an option post-VET.

A student’s ability to survive the senior school system is not a fair reflection of intellectual ability, nor should be a determining factor in their future prospects. The factors which cause disengagement of Aboriginal students needs to be addressed and all pathways need to be transparent and interconnected.

Exposure to a variety of opportunities

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are not being properly informed or exposed to possible and/or appropriate pathways. Firstly, opportunities which are available in local economies are not being adequately promoted in educational settings, let alone what potentials exist outside the immediate line of sight in their particular town/community. For example, expanding Aboriginal related economies including Aboriginal tourism, creative industries and agriculture present viable pathways for future employment, yet, these pathways are not being illuminated in educational settings for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students

Secondly, it may be argued that role models from a variety of industries are not promoted for Aboriginal and Torres Strait people. Due to this, young people’s future aspirations are pigeonholed and not always based on their strengths. Successful Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander role models gift young people with a drive and ambition to follow in their footsteps, as often seen with local AFL stars. However, trailblazers from alternative industries need to be highlighted, specifically role models from the relevant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander growth industries.

Being able to make informed choices and decisions regarding future pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students is based on the premise that they have made the appropriate subject choices early in their middle schooling time as opposed to arriving at these aspirations in the senior schooling timeframe. The delay in understanding the implications of subject choice and future aspirations, aren’t readily and easily explained to these students due to the limited access to and capabilities of career guidance councillors. It has been long argued by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educators, managers and academics that discussions around subject choices, careers and future aspirations need to commence with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders students in the latter stages of their primary schooling.

Advice & Guidance

The people advising students on career pathways can have a significant positive impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students’ future prospects. However, to contribute effectively it is essential for career advisors to have a broad knowledge base of education pathways and industry needs, cultural competence and most importantly, high expectations (Peterson et al, 2016).

The complexity of the VET and Further Higher Education systems require advisors to have extensive knowledge and training. The recent Joyce review (2019) into the Australian VET sector has echoed these sentiments reporting a lack of clarity around the vocational careers and useful information to guide new entrants. Moreover, it was also noted that the funding system is hard to understand and navigate, making training and expertise in advisory roles all the more essential.

The arrangements to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to choose appropriate pathways are further complicated by prejudice and low expectations. The implicit bias advisors and educators hold creates inequity in the choices offered to students based on their backgrounds. (Turner et al. 2015). This can be especially true for students who are in an education reengagement space.

This highlights the importance of having dedicated staff positions for appropriate and qualified personnel in education, training and career guidance.

Are routes sufficiently flexible to allow young people to easily change direction?

Education and career pathways are complicated. The Joyce review (2019) suggests that people from within the sector are also finding it difficult to navigate established routes. The attached Careers Development System diagram further illustrates the complexities in providing career choices advice in the current system. (See Attachment A)

Flexibility and ease of access was also a key theme during the Institute’s engagement with industry stakeholders conference in central Australia. Many organisations expressed a desire to build flexible and adaptable workforces through intense workshops or micro-training on Country. These arrangements were considered mutually beneficial for both employers and students. Students were upskilled quickly with little disruption to their lives and employers were able to further contextualise the training to their workplace. These students were predominately returning to the formal learning environment after having, for the most part, become disengaged from the formal schooling sector and are having to redress the numerous gaps in their formal learning journey.

Proposed National Careers Institute.

Views were expressed at the consultation meeting attended in Darwin on 5th November 2019, that the National Careers Institute was seen as introducing another layer of bureaucracy into an already overcrowded and overly complex system to navigate.

There was a suggestion to the conveners of the workshop that, perhaps a more cost effective, efficient and relevant system would be to streamline the existing set of component parts; provide ongoing professional credentialing of career guidance counsellors, their continual maintenance of industry/training/education currency; and the creation of flexible, mobile and responsive career guidance services to young people in metropolitan, regional and remote areas, where these services don’t exist or are underperforming.

3. What are the barriers to allowing all students to have equal access to the pathways that are available?

There are numerous systems of influences on available pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The barriers are not mutually exclusive and interact in complex and varied ways. Firstly, the academic gap and the reliance on senior school scores is a significant barrier to accessing pathways (Fowler, 2018). Specifically, SAE language, literacy and numeracy scores are preventing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from being guided to and accepted on all further education and employment routes.

Next, knowledge to navigate application procedures, funding streams and available pathways is also a barrier. Many Indigenous people in further education are first-generation students (Pidgeon et al., 2014), resultantly they are not privileged with the social capital afforded to multi-generation students. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people, family and community are the first port of call for guidance and advice. However, without firsthand experience of further education, family and community’s ability to guide young people to access relevant pathways is inhibited. With this in mind, the importance of skilled and culturally competent career advisors and mentors cannot be overstated (see question 2 & 4 for more detail on mentorship).

A further barrier is financial in nature, tied to insufficient funding as well as diminished employment opportunities in home communities. Despite an investment to break down financial barriers to further education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people, the funding may not reflect many students’ unique circumstances. Specifically, the financial implications of remoteness are frequently overlooked, leaving students already facing significant barriers with an additional hurdle.

A lack of local opportunity for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people (Kidwell 1989) renders many pathways meaningless. Without local economies being stimulated to create industries further training is unessential. For many Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander students, further education can provide a ticket to a brighter future with the caveat that they must leave country to do fulfil such ambitions. Therefore, the current pathways result in a face-off between career and country.

There is a perception that once a person leaves their home town/community, they will be lost to that community forever i.e. that exposure to “the outside world” is one that will forever alienate the person from their home, community and country. This perception is one that is continually reinforced in the context of discussions around Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples accessing education and training services – to their detriment, yet this same yardstick isn’t necessarily applied to the same effect to non-Indigenous people who may be confronted with the same issue. Further, this fallacy is one that is not readily discussed within the context of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples taking advantage of education and training opportunities and being able to readily and confidently orbit between, home town/community, education and training opportunities and employment – to the benefit of the individual, their family, their community and their country.

A key factor which interacts with all the previously mentioned factors is historical racism and deficit discourses. The deficit discourse which frames Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as deficient and disempowered is incredibly harmful to young learners. Such messages are both implicit and explicit (Turner et al., 2015, Peterson et al. 2016). A paradigm shift is essential whereby Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander disadvantage is attributed to broader systems rather than personal deficits. A deficit approach leads to a fixed mindset of a student’s abilities and possibilities (Dweck, 2006) and a population of young people who fail to reach their potential.

4. What is being done well to help students make effective and well-informed choices? We wish to examine career education; different schooling models; vocational and work-related learning in schools; and industry-education partnerships. Mentoring & Support Programs

The literature consistently highlights the benefits derived from effective mentorship. The state of New South Wales Premiers Department and the Office of the Director of Equal Opportunity in Public Sector Employment (ODEOPE) offer support for this in the ‘‘Aboriginal Employment in Practice – Support Strategy’’ stating that mentoring has the potential to improve career outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people. The mentoring literature often cites five functions of employment mentoring. These are sponsorship, exposure, challenging work, coaching and protection (Kram, 1986, p. 162). Of most importance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are latter two. Coaching includes the mentor teaching the mentee ‘the ropes’ and supporting mentees with appropriate feedback. Helping mentees navigate mainstream workplace culture and behaviour is fundamental to mentees success while living cross culturally (Smith, 2005). The protection function entails the mentor acting as a buffer for the mentee highlighting mistakes made which are outside of the mentees control. In mainstream workplaces which often view Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through a negative lens, this is of particular significance. For young people to make effective well-informed choices these functions must first be met.

Burgess and Dyer’s (2009) study of Indigenous traineeship program at the University of Newcastle noted significant benefits from mentoring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people entering work-placed training. However, students stipulated the need for mentors to possess high levels of cultural understanding. Both formal and informal mentoring is also emphasised, encapsulated in a trusting and supportive relationship.

In educational settings there are several examples of mentoring being used successfully to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in the Northern Territory. Examples include, Clontarf and Stars academy and First Steps program. These programs help protect young people in school settings, illuminate career pathways and prepare young people for the workforce. Guidance and support are particularly important to vulnerable young people, such as those who have been incarcerated or disengaged with education. Nevertheless, once in the workforce, such support is often non-existent especially in the private sector (Burgess and Dyer, 2009). If the potential of mentorship is realised then offering these services in the workforce is essential. Funding models must allow for successful and targeted mentoring programs in educational settings, businesses and institutions.

Co-locating Schooling with Other Services

As recognised in previous sections, the Indigeneity of an organisation and the ability to provide wrap around supports and mentoring will impact engagement and success in education, training and employment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. These themes were also captured within the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) report into Improving participation and success in VET for disadvantaged learners, (2018). The report identified building strong relationships with employers and other service agencies in the community and customising support for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) learners as examples of successful interventions. The NCVER report also stresses that this approach requires adequate resourcing.

Organisations such as Batchelor Institute are already established as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Institution with demonstrated relationships with complementary organisations. These organisations have the potential to provide wrap around support thereby addressing social determinants including health, housing and financial stress. A one-stop shop model providing clear pathways and connecting students and staff to appropriate services requires a funding model which acknowledges the locality of students and the resources required to provide sustained support. The cost benefit to support such initiatives far outweighs the investment.

An example of this is displayed by Batchelor Institute's relationship with Danila Dilba Aboriginal Health Service (Danila Dilba). Danila Dilba is an Aboriginal community-controlled organisation providing culturally appropriate, comprehensive primary health care and community services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the greater Darwin region of the Northern Territory. Danila Dilba’s health clinics also provide space for services such as Aboriginal Legal Aid within their offices and staff have clear referral pathways to other health and non-related health services.

Another example of how the location of services can address barriers is the Essington Senior School model. The school's senior secondary students are based at the Casuarina campus of Charles Darwin University and utilise the university's specialist learning facilities in Maths, Science, Technology and Music. The benefits of co- locating allows students to familiarise themselves with the setting, build relationships, and see themselves successful in what may be considered a foreign or unknown space. Over a period of time these students have settled into university life and will essentially hit the ground running when they embark on their own tertiary experience. Such a setup specific for Aboriginal and Torres Strait students may help mitigate the difficult transition between education levels.

Other programs that the Review may wish to consider are:

Aboriginal, Islander Tertiary Aspirations Program

Smith Family – Girls Step Up Mentor Program, Sponsorship

Aboriginal Islander Education Worker

Clontarf and Stars Academy

First Step

Back on Track

Aboriginal Parent Committee – Homework centres

Young Mums Program – Palmerston Family Centre

Standard Australian English (SAE) Language Literacy and Numeracy skills (LLN)

The fundamental skills of being numerate and literate in Standard Australian English determine the educational and career options available to young people. To address the disadvantage suffered by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in essential aspects of the current literacy and numeracy curriculum, alongside improving students school belonging, educational systems need to consider the place of bilingual education within their frameworks. It is widely documented that children taught in their first language build stronger foundations for future literacy and acquisition of other languages (Cummins, 2000, Thomas and Collier, 1997).

The role of Aboriginal English and forms of Creole in the bilingual education discussion need also to be acknowledged given the documented intrinsic correlation between the Aboriginal English/Creole being spoken and the original Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander mother tongue language of the speakers. To continue to ignore this reality and relegate these bilingual speakers as speakers of “bad English” or “slang” and subsequently being relegated to the remedial English class, significantly contributes to the ongoing disengagement of a sizable group of potential participants in the education and training sector. This disengagement continues to produce a growing number of young and middle aged Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who will not re-engage in the formal learning environment until such time that they are wanting to make fundamental changes in their lives and those of the families and communities.

The importance of addressing the SAE LLN requirements was also identified in the previously mentioned NVCER report. The report noted that successful student outcomes occur at Registered Training Organisations (RTO's) who provide intensive courses to support the development of these skills and matched experienced staff with high-need learners. These intensive supports need to be offered continuously throughout all pathways and ensure that qualified and experienced educators are delivering these essential skills. The success of their delivery will ensure students can move fluidly between levels of qualifications, across sectors and industries.

Aboriginal Teacher Workforce

Building an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Teacher workforce addresses many of the identified barriers acknowledged within this review and various other broader policies reviews. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teacher workforce, along with other First Nations people should be employed in schools with populations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students (i.e. population parity employment across all levels of the school workforce). This will contribute to enhancing the community/school connection and student belonging in schools, with the teaching workforce also clearly seen as suitable mentors across all sectors of employment in the school environment.

Education is a relevant and present industry in most communities and local teachers will ensure a sustainable workforce. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers and other school employees can by their very presence challenge concerns of prejudice, bias, and expectations. (Forbes, 1994; Roberts, 1990).

5. How can we collect and disseminate the data we need to understand young peoples’ choices and help governments to make informed public policy decisions?

Micro- credentials or skill subsets in relevant basic qualifications are considered an appealing and important path for students with low levels of prior educational attainment. (Lamb 2018). Micro-credentials and/or skill subsets in all relevant qualifications (not only the basic ones) are considered a viable pathway by both industry and community stakeholders for a wide range of benefits that allow customisation, flexibility and maintenance of industry/sector currency.

There is some use of micro-credentialing in the VET sector, but it is limited and the funding for these instances is not consistent. Micro credentialing in the Higher Education sector, whilst it has been discussed for many years, has not occurred and continues to be a contentious issue that threatens some of the underlying assumptions around the integrity of content and credentials in the Higher Education sector.

Updates to the testamur will allow RTOs to report against success in micro- credentialing. This is especially relevant considering employment after training figures were similar regardless of whether they completed a subject or a full qualification (Joyce, 2019).

Whilst it is acknowledged that figures are easy to digest, metrics which report a balance of qualitative and quantitative data should favoured. Students and their communities should identify their outcomes and success criteria. These can be balanced with ATAR scores, job figures, business and industry response.

Batchelor Institute is committed to supporting improvements in this very important area. The Institute is ready to provide support where possible. My contact officer for further discussions on this issue is my Director Executive Services, Ms Sam Crossman, who may be contacted on (08) 89467390 or by e-mail at [email protected] .

Yours sincerely

Professor Steve Larkin

Chief Executive Officer

Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education

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Batchelor CampusC/O Post Office, Batchelor NT 0845

Central Australian CampusPO Box 9170, Alice Springs NT 0871

ABN32 039 179 166Freecall1800 677 [email protected]

batchelor.edu.au

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https://www.ncver.edu.au/research-and-statistics/publications/all-publications/improving-participation-and-success-in-vet-for-disadvantaged-learners

Macedo, D.M., Smithers, L.G., Roberts, R.M. et al. Effects of racism on the socio-emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal Australian children. Int J Equity Health 18, 132 (2019) doi:10.1186/s12939-019-1036-9

Pidgeon, Michelle; Archibald, Jo-ann; Hawkey, Colleen Dweck, C.S. (2006) Mindset: the new psychology of success. New York: Ballantine Books.

Pigeon et al. 2014 = Relationships Matter: Supporting Aboriginal Graduate Students in British Columbia, Canada

Priest N, Mackean T, Davis E, Briggs L, Water E. Aboriginal perspectives of child health and wellbeing in an urban setting: developing a conceptual framework. Health Social Rev. 2012.  https://doi.org/10.5172/hesr.2012.21.2.180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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Strengthening Skills Expert Review of Australia’s Vocational Education and Training System The Honourable Steven Joyce 2019 https://www.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/strengthening-skills-independent-review-australia-vets_1.pdf

Tarbetsky, A. L., Collie, R. J. and Martin, J. M. (2016) ‘The role of implicit theories of intelligence and ability in predicting achievement for Indigenous (Aboriginal) Australian students’, Contemporary Educational Psychology, vol. 47, pp. 61-71 [Online]. Available at https://www-sciencedirect-com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/science/article/pii/S0361476X16000047 (Accessed 03 March 2019).

Young C, Tong A, Nixon J, Fernando P, Kalucy D, Sherriff S. Perspectives on childhood resilience among the aboriginal community: an interview study. Aust N Z J Public Health. 2017.  https://doi.org/10.1111/1753-6405.12681.

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