Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

At the Aborigines Advancement League in my home state of Victoria, I recently brought together Victorian First Nations leaders for an education roundtable with my friend and colleague Minister Clare. We know that the best outcomes for community only come by listening and working with mob. Leaders outlined challenges facing First Nations children and adolescents in the education sector, including broad systemic issues such as racism and a lack of cultural safety. I thank the participants of the roundtable for their honest and raw insights and for their stories.

As consistently highlighted by many of the mob there, racism in schools is a common experience for our kids, and it is utterly unacceptable. We need cultural safety training in schools, we need more Aboriginal teachers and we need a curriculum that is based on truth-telling so we have an agreed and shared understanding of our history in this nation. This will go some way towards reducing the racism that Aboriginal children experience in schools. Aboriginal community controlled care and education centres are leading the charge, working with and developing the minds of First Nations young people in an environment where our babies' identities are celebrated. I thank them for everything they do. Their work is crucial to supporting the development of the next generation of leaders for our mob.

The earliest years of a child's life are the building blocks for their long-term mental, physical, social and cognitive health. We know that if we get them right we can positively shape the future of that child's life. Access to culturally appropriate care and education is not simply important but necessary to support our children during their formative years. In a world that constantly talks about First Nations people in terms of deficits and challenges, I want to change the narrative and talk about our successes. I will continue to highlight Blak excellence in this place and wherever else I can, especially when it comes to our young people. I want them to have the very best start in life and know they deserve to have access to the best education.