ABSTRACT
In 1988 the 'Hughes Report' of the Aboriginal Education Policy Task Force, chaired by South Australian Aboriginal educator Dr Paul Hughes, made 57 specific recommendations to change education systems. Unlike the Hughes Report, the policy was widely seen as fitting Aboriginal education into existing systems-there was not a word on teacher education or racism. If they were taught at all, it was mainly by imported teachers with little knowledge of the local Aboriginal language or culture. The 1991 Commonwealth languages policy, Australia's Language: The Australian Language and Literacy Policy, stressed the urgent need to preserve and maintain Aboriginal languages. Racism and stereotyping of Aboriginal people must be addressed-issues that were particularly acute when Australians were forced to confront the real history and nature of Australia, and a White Australia backlash released 'free speech' from the constraints of so-called 'political correctness'.
