Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud & Proud 2024

Thank you.

I would like to begin by accepting the welcome to Country with profound respect and humility.

I too would like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of this land – the Burramattagal People of the Darug Nation – and pay my respects to their elders past and present.

I particularly want to acknowledge all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People here tonight.

I’m so pleased to see this inaugural gala dinner on our calendar of events.

It’s a great reminder that we need to take time to celebrate the truly outstanding contributions and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples at our University.

It is an understatement to say the past 12 months have been a disappointing and bruising time – not only for the Indigenous community – but for each and every one of us who walks alongside you and supports your aspirations for a better country.

And that’s what I want you to take from tonight – your biggest supporters are right here at the University.

They are right here in this room.

You will find no more passionate allies than the incoming Vice-Chancellor George Williams, myself, the University’s leadership, and the Board of Trustees.

And you are never going to have a more supportive context than the Australian Universities Accord.

But moments come and go – the mood in some circles of government that we have to make up for the Voice won’t last forever.

And we cannot allow another generation of Indigenous people to slip through the system – because every year that goes by is a year that someone is not reaching their potential.

That’s why I am particularly pleased to see that this year’s NAIDOC theme is to ‘keep the fire burning:  blak, loud and proud’.

Now is not the time for introspection – I know that is easier said than done.

But now is a moment to push forward, continue building understanding and momentum, and firmly establish Western Sydney University as the nation’s leading champion of Indigenous advancement.

A place which Indigenous Australians from around the country see as the University that will their advancement and their success.

Thanks to the work of Michelle and her team, we are well on our way.

We have an opportunity to reshape this agenda.

We have an opportunity for the University to do something profoundly different and profoundly impactful.

This starts with Indigenous governance at the University, particularly governance over the Indigenous learning and research programs.

Let’s work together on the institutions and the structure that will drive self-determination.

I want us to seriously think about establishing the nation’s first Indigenous University.

I know there are pros and cons.

But a world-class institution would become a magnet for Australian and international students and a beacon around the world for Indigenous self-determination and advancement.

So, with those ambitions in mind, let’s start by asking ourselves whether we are doing enough right now with the tools that we control?

Let’s think about ambitious targets for PhD students and offering them post-doctoral fellowships.

Let’s strive for employment opportunities across all the faculties – not just a few.

Let’s think about encouraging more Indigenous students to study in areas that give them the foundations for the future industries in this region.

Let’s think about embedding Indigenous language and culture in everything we do.

Let’s think about working closely with employers, particularly large corporates:

• they have a target for Indigenous employees, and
• they have a target for Indigenous procurement.

Coles and Woolworths are the largest employers of Indigenous people in Australia.

Let’s think about a University staffing strategy that pulls our graduates through.

And let’s think about ways of improving how we pull young people through the school system and provide them with additional support.

How can we partner with innovative new school models, such as Studio Schools in the Northern Territory which is delivering better results than state schools?

I want to continue to ensure our relationship with Indigenous school students start before the university gate  – I want us to be a university without walls that becomes their preferred pathway to reaching their full potential.

It is great to see our program for Indigenous kids at both primary and secondary school with:

• the Heartbeat Program, and
• the Pathway Program which is run across over 38 schools in the region.

We are proud to be the first-choice university for over 800 Indigenous Australian students.

Let’s double that number.

We have the opportunity for a broad and positive agenda.

The Indigenous Centre of Excellence is the focal point – but it is not the start and the end of our aspirations.

We need to embrace a 10-year view of the world – and how we work towards our goals.

This might mean we need to take a staged and stepped approach as we head to a destination that is ambitious, bold, and actually is transformational.

We need to be super clear about where we want to head – so we don’t take the wrong route to get there.

While there will be many differing views to mine – I believe the reason the Voice Referendum failed was because people simply didn’t understand what was being proposed.

They didn’t understand the nature and importance of self-determination –and it’s critical role in reconciliation.

Unfortunately, it became a lightning rod for polarised – and often destructive – views.

To counter those views, we’ll need to dig deeper.

What are we doing – as a University – to promote a greater understanding?

Should we – for example – consider cultural training across all our disciplines.

And what are we doing to move beyond the defeatist language of ‘closing the gap’ to the positive language – and actions – of realising potential and raising the bar?

I want our University to lead by example – and to inform the conversation in our own region, at the very least, and help promote better understanding.

When I was writing this speech, I was nervous that I would inadvertently say the wrong thing.

I need you – the University leadership needs you – to make this a safe space so we can be your allies and champion our shared aspirations.

We need to know what you want – and what you need.

We need you to be precise about what your agenda for advancement looks like.

It needs to be data-driven, staged, and ambitious.

How can we achieve it?

How can it be resourced?

What’s our stretch goals?

Because in a decade, if we are not seen as the leading university in the world on Indigenous self-determination and advancement, we will have failed.

So let's get it done.

It’s now or never.

I need your help.

I need your guidance.

I don't want the Indigenous Centre of Excellence to only be an important space.

I want it to be so much more – an enduring symbol of profound leadership and profound change for all Australians.

Indigenous self-determination and advancement won’t become a priority until it is embraced by people from all walks of life.

And I believe it must be on everyone’s agenda because it is:

• the right thing to do
• the moral thing to do, and
• the best way forward for all Australians and our economy, culture, and society.

 Thank you.