First Nations Success
Our priority is student equity
One of the seven core goals in the current CDU Strategic Plan 2021-2026 is to be the most recognised university for Australian First Nations training, education and research. This site holds projects that aim to assess and foster Australian First Nations success in CDU and the Northern Territory.
We are doing this by: Improving Australian First Nations student access, participation and success in training and education programs, creating a culturally enriched and culturally safe environment for Australian First Nations students, learning from Australian First Nations peoples, increasing CDU’s Australian First Nations staffing profile, realising our aspirations for First Nations leadership and strengthening our First Nations research focus.
Statement of Support
This initiative is supported by Professor Reuben Bolt, Deputy Vice-Chancellor First Nations Leadership & Engagement. The First Nations Leadership office leads CDU in achieving its goal to be the most recognised university for Australian First Nations training, education and research. This portfolio provides strategic, evidenced-based advice to academic and professional staff and manages services to support CDU’s First Nations to succeed in their tertiary aspirations.
‘Tell students they can do it’: how Aboriginal people can inspire each other to become teachers
The Conversation | Tracy Woodroffe and Khushi Chauhan.
Higher Education for First Nations Students at CDU
This project will address issues of retention and completion of the First Nations students enrolled in undergraduate courses at CDU. This project undertakes the first CDU investigation of the engagement of undergraduate First Nations students in Higher Education and will deliver mutually informed lessons for the CDU staff and the First Nations students themselves.
Increasing the Numbers of Aboriginal Teachers in the NT
The low number of Aboriginal school teachers is a critical issue in the Northern Territory (NT), which has the highest percentage of Aboriginal students in Australia. This project aims to understand what Aboriginal students think about teaching as a future career and identify barriers to becoming a teacher in the NT.
Increasing the Numbers of Aboriginal Teachers in the NT
This project is about mapping the higher education journeys and experiences of Indigenous people who graduated and have been awarded higher education degrees from CDU (Charles Darwin University) and or BIITE (Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education). This will be achieved by compiling stories from successful graduates and sharing them to encourage, inspire and support other Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to undertake a higher education study.
Pathways into Education for First Nations Students
This project will address issues of enrolment and completion for Indigenous students by adding knowledge about pathways into Higher Education from Secondary School VET courses. This will be achieved by investigating current CDU pathways de-identified data, as well as NT Department of Education VETDSS (VET Delivered in Secondary Schools) and Career Education policy documents. Data will include information about pathways accessed by students in the current Remote Aboriginal Teacher Education (RATE) program.
