Our Blak Caucus ...

Has been established to prioritise Aboriginal community collaboration and guidance on the project. It consists of Aboriginal cultural leads from our eight participating schools.

Working in conjunction with the Blak Caucus team, a Cultural mentoring program is designed to localise and provide explicit truths and examples in re-shaping content resources and teacher perspectives.

Members of the Blak Caucus spent two days on Wiradjuri Country during a thought-provoking retreat to consider our focus on developing micro-treaties between CNS schools and communities.

Associate Professor Kevin Lowe – a Gubbi Gubbi man and CNS lead investigator – explained: “If there's ever a time for us to put our hands up and say we want a voice in decision-making about what happens to our kids in school, now is the time. “We need to rethink the relationship between schools and teachers and our communities and build relationships that are more meaningful.” He said the process of treaty making needs to start locally, draw on the strengths of local communities, and be aspirational. “There isn't an Aboriginal person who works in education who hasn't thought about how to make this a much more productive relationship,” A Prof Lowe added.

Aunty Anne Dennis, a Gamilaraay woman with a long and distinguished background as a teacher and administrator, spoke to the group. She had recently returned from representing the NSW Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) at the 2023 United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), in New York. “One of the things that came through loud and clear at the United Nations this year, from all Indigenous people around the world, was that teachers do not know how to engage with Indigenous kids,” she said. Michael Ingrey belongs to the La Perouse Aboriginal Community, and has held various executive management roles within local, regional and national organisations that deliver a service to Aboriginal people. He is currently the CEO of Inner Sydney Empowered Communities Ltd (ISEC). He shared his experiences of working to build relationships between communities and state and federal government bodies.  

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