Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the senator for her question. How fantastic it is to receive a question this week, during National Science Week, about our new investments in STEM! Careers in the sciences, technology, engineering and maths—more commonly known as STEM—are clearly the careers of the future. I'm very proud to be part of a government that has made innovation and science its top priority. We're all benefitting from the $1.1 billion National Innovation and Science Agenda but, because we are trying to close a 200-year-old gap in a few short years so we can get more people off the misery of welfare and into the dignity of work, we are making targeted investments in our First Australians through the Indigenous Advancement Strategy.

Last year, on the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum, the Prime Minister announced the $138 million Indigenous Education Package. As part of that investment, we recently announced the $25 million Indigenous Girls' STEM Academy, making sure that Indigenous girls and women who have an interest in STEM can make a career in what has traditionally been a male dominated area. The Indigenous Girls' STEM Academy will support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women to pursue careers in STEM. The academy is a $25 million long-term investment from the Indigenous Advancement Strategy that will guide over 1,000 girls and young women through high school and support them through university and into a job in a STEM profession.

The academy, a joint partnership between CSIRO and CareerTrackers, will nurture a passion for STEM and support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls and young women with things like ongoing individual student support, summer school and, importantly, work placement with industry leaders. As part of this, we are investing $5 million in the Stronger Smarter Institute for scholarships to support more Indigenous STEM teachers. We know having more Indigenous STEM teachers means we will encourage more Indigenous STEM students. (Time expired)