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Apology signals an urgency for universities
16 February 2008
The national apology ceremony on Wednesday will forever be remembered by all thinking people around the world as one of Australia’s most important political moments. A turning point like few others. If all Australians can now follow through, true to the sentiments expressed by the Prime Minister, then the moral standing of Australia as an advanced nation will soar.
Thirty years ago when I emigrated, and as a young academic sociologist, I was shaken by the deep divisions between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. In some quarters the level of prejudice was profound and disturbing.
Even amongst educated men and women in the university sector the plight of many Indigenous people was seen as self-inflicted. Yet the evidence could not conceivably have been construed in that way if the span of years since the coming of white people were examined with objectivity.
Within universities I was appalled at the staff resistance to introduce programs of positive discrimination to enable promising Indigenous youth to enter higher education, whilst not being able to obtain normal entry scores. Eventually allowed the opportunity, one such low-scoring indigenous student went on to excel, become a Queenslander of the Year, and an influential change agent in Indigenous communities.
At USC there have been some significant successes, and the number increases annually.
If the Federal Government is now going to concentrate on achieving key targets on housing, health, education and jobs it will require concerted efforts over a long period to alleviate the many disadvantages that have been created for Indigenous communities. But it is a cause to which every one of us, not least in universities, should commit.
Our national leader from Nambour expressed the mood of a nation when he said “sorry”, and then focused on actions still to be undertaken to ensure success.
I cannot remember a time when I was prouder to be an Australian than when I listened to the Prime Minister’s speech, and saw the impact it was having on so many people, many of whose lives have been so deeply disturbed and disrupted.
The way has been paved and its now up to organisations like universities and their staff and students to ensure that true reconciliation becomes a long overdue reality.
Professor Paul Thomas AM is Vice-Chancellor at the University of the Sunshine Coast.