Lightning talk by Andrea Simpson, as part of the online NCSEHE Student Equity Snapshots Forum 2020.

4. Compared to their non-Indigenous peers, Indigenous
students were significantly more likely to:
• have ATARs in the middle range (60-69)
• apply though special entry provisions
• gain entry though a VET/TAFE award
• come from a low socioeconomic background
• enrol at a regional university.

5. “I didn’t complete my first year (of university), I pulled out second semester. It was
a long way from my community, so I went back, and then life took me in another
direction … when I was 40 I thought, ‘It’s my time now’.”
On the Indigenous Support Unit:
“I knew I could go there and have a cuppa, it was a culturally safe place for me.”
On choosing social work:
“We all have a role to play. It’s making a difference in people’s lives. We might not
feel like we’re making a difference, but I think if we all play our part in creating a
better society and better options and better resources and better opportunities for
our - especially, more so, being Aboriginal, for our people.”

6. “I definitely have changed the way I articulate myself to be more
compatible with my (white) colleagues.”
“I was the only Aboriginal person to finish that degree.”
“I was the first Aboriginal health assistant up at ... and she said,
I got the job out of sixty applicants.”

7. “… and you don’t have to explain all of the context and the background,
and everything is already understood there – it’s less traumatising
working from that place of understanding with somebody rather than
having to go to a white doctor and them judge everything you say.”
“… the other thing that was very helpful was my (non-Indigenous)
cohort. The people that I was studying with. We developed a lot of
strong relationships. We’re still close friends.”
“Because when you look out your window right now you see a world
that’s been made for white fellas, there’s not much that represents
Aboriginal people outside my window.”