ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some of the landmarks in the struggle of Aboriginal and Tones Strait Islander people to obtain access to tertiary education in own country. It concentrates on Aboriginal people’s influence on national higher education policy by way of example. Institutions were quick to realise that they needed Aboriginal people on staff to assist Aboriginal students academically, socially, culturally and politically. Aboriginal education policy has tended to both reflect and bolster the general attitude of governments towards a powerless and distinctive minority. Special legislation was enacted in each State to govern the reserves, whose members were excluded from general legislation such as the Public Education Acts of the 1870s and 1880s. The policy changed in 1965 to integration, which paid lip service to an appreciation of cultural differences between peoples of different racial origin. The National Aboriginal Education Policy was finalised as the second stage of the task force’s findings in 1989, after agreement with state and territory Governments.
