‘A fair chance for all?’ indigenous rights and tertiary education in Australia

Abstract

This paper draws on a research project which investigated the participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in tertiary education in northern Australia. The author uses the term ‘tertiary education’ to refer to various levels of post-secondary education, including universities, colleges, and technical and further education systems. In the past, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have faced exclusion from such institutions, and even today their participation rates in tertiary education are significantly lower than that of the non-indigenous population. This paper explores how perceptions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have influenced their participation in tertiary education, and have limited their indigenous rights. The author also draws back for a world-wide view of the conflict between indigenous rights and individual rights, with a particular emphasis on equity and access to tertiary education in Australia. The author concludes his paper with the statement of his belief that instead of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders being represented as a ‘disadvantaged’ group, with an emphasis on equity, they be represented as indigenous, with an emphasis on indigenous rights.