Indigenous Education Policy

The University's Indigenous Education Policy provides guidance for the development and management of Indigenous education.

Western Sydney University is committed to providing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with access to higher education. 

The University's vision is to contribute to the national process of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians by establishing the University as a site of exemplary practice in Indigenous Education.

Statistics relating to health, housing, income, imprisonment and ultimately life expectancy, combine to severely impact upon the ability of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to successfully participate in the education system. 

In addition, while very few Australians have had the opportunity to interact with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, until recently little was taught in schools about Indigenous Australia. Consequently many non-Indigenous Australians know very little about this part of their national heritage.

These two realities, combined with the fact that the Indigenous population of Greater Western Sydney is the largest single Indigenous community in Australia, provides the University not only with a unique opportunity to make a significant impact on Indigenous disadvantage, but an unparalleled opportunity to develop an identity which is uniquely Australian. In this regard, the University believes that knowledge of Indigenous Australia should not only be an attribute shared by its graduates, but a fundamental part of Australian identity. 

The objectives set out in the Indigenous Education Policy are to:

• Increase Indigenous undergraduate enrolment rates to levels commensurate with those of other Australians.
• Improve Indigenous undergraduate progression, success and completion rates to levels commensurate with those of other Australians.
• Increase Indigenous postgraduate enrolment rates to levels commensurate with those of other Australians.
• Improve Indigenous postgraduate progression and completion rates to levels commensurate with those of other Australians.
• Increase Indigenous research and increase Indigenous participation in governance of research.
• Ensure the inclusion of appropriate Indigenous content in curriculum across the University.
• Raise the prominence of Indigenous culture across the University.
• Increase Indigenous community engagement and outreach.
• Increase Indigenous participation in governance and decision making.
• Foster international Indigenous awareness and collaborative projects.

To find out more, please see the Indigenous Education Policy.