Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School is a highly respected educational facility in my electorate, and I bring to the attention of the House its Indigenous Scholarship Program, now in its second year The school has a strong commitment to helping to bridge the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, recognising that one very significant area in which Indigenous people suffer disadvantage is through educational opportunities.

The inaugural Indigenous Scholarship was awarded in 2014 to Maddison Bedford, a year 9 day student at Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School. I recently attended-the second scholarship announcement and listened to Maddison speak about what her scholarship had meant. I think it is important for me to read her words into Hansard. After welcoming us all, Maddison said:

Before I begin my speech I would like to pay my respect to the traditional owners of this country; the Noongar people, whose ancestral lands we are meeting upon here today and thank them for welcoming me to this country.

My name is Maddison Bedford or Ingbra – which is my traditional name given to me by my family in recognition of my Bunuba heritage and culture.

I have been a student here since starting in Year 4 and am fortunate and proud to be the first recipient of an Indigenous Scholarship at Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School.

This scholarship has provided access to a range of opportunities for me and helped develop my confidence and abilities as a positive role model and young Indigenous leader.

Since being awarded the scholarship I have had the confidence to step forward and take up a range of opportunities that have pushed me out of my comfort zone – such as addressing you all today – being a House Council member for Knight, successfully applying and gaining a placement in the UWA Residential Science Camp Program, enthusiastically welcoming opportunities to represent our school in a range of sporting events – both here and in Perth and embraced the chance to travel to New Zealand as a part of a small number of delegates to the 2014 ROUND SQUARE JUNIOR REGIONAL CONFERENCE held at Kings College, Auckland.

As well as all of this I have been keen to maintain my active participation in our school's strong partnership program with Djidi Djidi School and NAIDOC Week celebrations. Something I have done since joining the school in 2009.

Scholarships like this help us close the gaps in Indigenous education and inspire students like me to have a go and set aspirational and achievable dreams for our future.

The experiences of the past year have widened my view and ideas for my future and helped me establish a valuable support network of people keen to help me do well and be successful.

From my initial meeting with Worsley BHP Asset president Ricus Grimbeek, who asked me lots of questions about what I wanted to do when I left school, to exploring cadetships and programs at Woodside – who are a major sponsor of the UWA Science Camp, I have had the chance to meet new people who have challenged my future career ideas and have shown me that there are a wide range of things that I can do when I leave school, including gaining access to a university of my choice.

Although I have just started Year 10, I am now more aware of how taking up opportunities is important and can influence your life journey and would encourage everyone to take up chances like this.

Next year I am hoping I will be successful in securing an Aboriginal School Based traineeship which will count towards my Western Australian Certificate of Education and give me hands on experience that will complement my future university goal of studying either Environmental Sciences or Veterinary Science – I haven't decided just yeti

So in closing as the inaugural winner of the Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School Indigenous Scholarship I would like to personally say Thank you to all of the sponsors who have ensured the successful start of the program, the board of Goomburrup for their involvement and cultural guidance, the Board of Governors for their vision in opening access for Indigenous students, staff and of course my family.

Maddison thanked everyone.

I congratulate Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School on this initiative. Maddison is a fine example of the success of the program, the aim of which is to maximise educational opportunities for Indigenous youth within the South West of Western Australia. At present, one per cent of the school's student population is Indigenous, but their goal is to increase this number to be more reflective of the overall Australian population by offering a range of scholarships as part of an education program to Indigenous young people. The school is currently affiliated with the local Goomburrup Aboriginal Corporation and they are working in conjunction with Goomburrup and other related Aboriginal organisations on a range of projects.

House adjourned at 17:01

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