ATSIEC hosts ATSI Symposium

ATSIEC (TAFE and General) hosted a three hour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Symposium on the afternoon of 22 November 2010.  The Federal President provided the context for the Symposium and Mr Romlie Mokak, CEO of the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association (AIDA) presented the keynote address.

In his keynote, Romlie outlined the functions of AIDA and its role in the Close the Gap 25 Year Health Action Plan. He shared his wealth of experience and expertise relating to Indigenous health and the Closing the Gap strategies which informed our deliberations and planning around the campaign to develop a 25 Year Action Plan for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education.

Romlie rightly observed that sustainability isn’t dependent on individuals and champions and that it is important to “lock down the system”.  AIDA does not pursue the signing of Memorandums of Understanding but rather uses a process resulting in a Collaboration Agreement. Collaboration Agreements articulate clear long term goals and short term priorities.  The short-term priorities are inspirational and strategic in that they contribute to the realisation of long-term goals.

Although AIDA is a professional association of health professionals rather than a trade union of educators, Romlie’s presentation highlighted the importance of gaining the support of, and working collaboratively with peak bodies and “those with the ear of government”.

Symposium Small Group Discussions

Some of the ideas that came from the small group discussions include:

• There is a need to work with and to develop and strengthen partnerships with organisations and associations such as the National Aboriginal Principals’ Association and the Australian Council of Deans of Education.
• As a union, we need to be better organised and to engage with more of our Indigenous educators.

• The 25 year action plan needs clear reporting periods. We need to break the plan down at ranch and Associated Body level.
• Support for beginning Indigenous teachers needs to be enhanced.
• An individual professional development plan for every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teacher that supports his/her goals and aspirations and is not used as a performance management tool.
• Find replacement for ASSPA.
• Hold meetings in communities and invite community members to special meetings.
• Our plan needs to look up and down; it needs to improve outcomes for all Indigenous children and young people.  Don’t just focus on the ‘bottom’, be aspirational and provide role models.

Questions arising from the small discussion groups include:

• If we broaden the ownership of the plan’s directions, how do we maintain the focus on public education?
• How do we connect with existing successful programs rather than inadvertently competing with them by pushing our own agenda?
• How do we ensure TAFE is included in all aspects of the campaign and any resulting plan for long term action?  Do the terms of reference need to explicitly include TAFE?
• How do we learn from stories of Indigenous education from each sector (ECE, Primary, Secondary, Post school)?
• How do we form ‘parallel direction’ partnerships rather than ‘negotiated/bargained/watered down’ partnerships?
• How do we connect with the momentum of our health colleagues, run alongside of existing programs, not re-invent the wheel?