The Honourable Dr Michael Wooldridge, Minister for Health and Aged Care, Mr Ted Wilkes, Director Derbarl Yerrigan Health Service, Professor Patrick Garnett, Professor Neil Thomson, colleagues from Edith Cowan University, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon and a warm welcome to the launch of the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet.
First though I would like to tell you a little about Edith Cowan University and our academic and research excellence.
ECU is descended from the oldest tertiary institution in Western Australia, the Claremont Teacher’s College, and we will be celebrating our centenary in 2002. ECU is a modern and progressive university whose vision is based on the core values of service, professionalism and enterprise. We have a strong base in the service professions, where we have developed a reputation for quality courses that are vocationally relevant.
As one of Australia’s largest universities we have always been conscious of the pursuit of quality in teaching, learning and research. Our quality assurance systems for teaching are designed to ensure sound instructional design and teaching practice.
ECU has a commitment to Indigenous issues in Australia and, as an institution, can be proud of our achievements that are contributing to reconciliation. We enjoy the highest number of Indigenous student enrolments of any university in Australia - 914 students. We have accepted a responsibility to Indigenous education that is reflected in many ways.
This year Kurongkurl Katitjin, our School of Indigenous Australian Studies, celebrates 24 years of providing educational programmes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Through their studies many students are achieving their personal goals and aspirations and have become role models for other Indigenous people. The whole Australian community will be the winner when the full potential of our Indigenous members is realised through access to quality education and equal opportunity. Through Kurongkurl Katitjin, Indigenous people can study by correspondence and receive support from the school’s Aboriginal Tutorial Assistance Scheme.
We are particularly proud of our ongoing efforts to promote and provide education to those Indigenous students living in the rural and remote areas of this vast state, and in other parts of Australia. The University’s Virtual Campus and regional Centres of Further and Higher Education also provide other avenues for Indigenous students to overcome the tyranny of distance that has hampered efforts to provide educational opportunities for Indigenous people.
Another important support service is the Yandi Student Data Base, which tracks and monitors the performance of Indigenous students and quickly identifies and provides assistance to those who may need specific assistance to stay on track with their studies.
These are just a few of the many ways in which ECU demonstrates its genuine commitment to using education to enrich the lives of Indigenous people and their communities.
Ms Cheryl Kickett-Tucker this year became ECU’s first Aboriginal PhD graduate. Her thesis – Urban Aboriginal children in sport: experiences, perceptions and sense of self – found that Aboriginal children describe and judge themselves favourably and positively in the sports domain.
Also this year I presented the inaugural ECU Vice-Chancellor’s Indigenous Scholarship Award to third year Bachelor of Education (Primary) student, Ms Lynley Tucker. The scholarship was awarded on academic merit and leadership qualities, and provides funding assistance to support an outstanding Indigenous student to complete an undergraduate degree.
And then there is the HealthInfoNet which we are here today to celebrate. The project aims to tackle the alarming statistics on Aboriginal health in a most innovative way. The project uses mainly the Internet to disseminate the results of its primary and secondary research activities. It also seeks to empower Indigenous people by providing them with the necessary training to take full advantage of the vast range of information available on the Internet. As well, the project assists Indigenous organisations in developing their own Internet sites.
Ensuring that Indigenous Australians are provided with the same opportunities and access to services as other Australians is essential to the reconciliation process, to which ECU is strongly committed.
The project is a strong example of the need for research to be all-encompassing. Development that is focused solely on one discipline is seldom practical in its application. This project brings together the disciplines of technology, health, humanities and social sciences.
By emphasising also the need to link research with practical health interventions, the project should ensure that real progress is made in addressing the enormous health disadvantages experienced currently by many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
My congratulations to Professor Thomson and his team.
Thank you.
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