Income support in the wake of the Federal Government's recent announcement to abolish ABSTUDY is a burning issue for indigenous educational peak bodies and university staff, according to a University of Queensland postgraduate student.
Master of social science and health student Rhonda Kelly was elected as the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations' (CAPA) new National Indigenous People's Officer in November last year.
She was sponsored to attend the three-day conference by the University's Dean of Postgraduate Students Associate Professor Alan Lawson and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences Professor Linda Rosenman.
While Ms Kelly grew up in Brisbane, her family are from Darwin and the Barkly region in the Northern Territory. A former senior policy officer with the Queensland Health Department's Aboriginal Health Unit, Ms Kelly is also president of the University of Queensland's Indigenous Australian Postgraduate Association (IAPA).
IAPA is an affiliation of around 30 indigenous graduate, postgraduate, academics and community members established last year out of shared interest in examining issues relevant to the indigenous sphere, according to Ms Kelly.
"Members also believe that the association has an important role to play in trying to break down community perceptions of universities as academic enclaves, which are not Murri-friendly," she said.
Ms Kelly said a pressing issue facing students was not only ABSTUDY's abolition from January 1, 2000, but its replacement with a similar award aligned with the merit-based Australian Postgraduate Award.
IAPA members met late last year with a number of university managers to discuss the funding of special equity bursaries for indigenous students, she said.
A planning day and workshop with Dr Lawson, IAPA members and staff from the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit will be held in early 1999 to discuss research grant and industry fund options for indigenous postgraduate students, she said.
Ms Kelly, whose thesis deals with institutionalised racism in the public sector, said more access to services and support was also needed for indigenous students once they arrived at universities.
The former Department of Social Security indigenous liaison officer, project officer and social worker said it was also important that more indigenous lecturers and tutors with cultural and community knowledge be available.
Former University of Queensland students Rose Elu (bachelor of arts 1987) and Patrice Harald (bachelor of arts 1991) are both members of IAPA.
Ms Elu is from Horn Island at the tip of Cape York while Ms Harald hails from Rockhampton.
Ms Elu, an expert in the field of Torres Strait Islander customary adoption practices, said more indigenous postgraduates needed to be employed at universities to lecture and tutor in areas they understood from a community as well as academic perspective.
Ms Harald has a National Health and Medical Research Council scholarship to develop best practice for improving the health status of urban indigenous women.
She said that although graduates received qualifications, this did not automatically generate career opportunities.
"While the government departments stress the importance of indigenous people having qualifications, there is a closed shop mentality whereby only particular people obtain and advance in the public sector," she said.
IAPA treasurer Deborah Deacon had decided to resume tertiary studies after working for the past 10 years in the human resource management field in the State public sector, Ms Kelly said.
For more information, contact Ms Kelly (telephone 07 3397 0949 or email
indigenous@capa.edu.au).
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