Rachelle Towart
CEO
Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre
PO Box 4110
Kingston ACT 2604
12th September 2014
The Hon. Alan Tudge MP
Federal Member for Aston
Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister
Dear Alan,
I am delighted to provide a response to the Forrest Review on behalf of the Australian Indigenous
Leadership Centre (AILC), one of Australia’s leading Indigenous education providers and the nation’s
only provider of accredited courses in both Indigenous leadership and Indigenous governance.
We would be delighted to provide further reflections and information in relation to our response if
required, thank you again for the opportunity to respond.
Regards,
Rachelle Towart
CEO
Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre (AILC)
AILC response to Creating Parity – The Forrest Review
Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre (AILC)
Rachelle Towart – CEO
September 2014
Contents
Overview ................................................................................................................................................. 2
Response to Recommendation 3: Improving educational outcomes ............................................. 2
Response to Recommendation 14: Vocational education and training ......................................... 3
Response to Recommendation 16: Training in incarceration ......................................................... 4
Response to Recommendation 20: Support for employers............................................................ 4
Response to Recommendation 23: Local governance .................................................................... 5
About the AILC ........................................................................................................................................ 5
More information
For more information about this document and the Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre’s
response to the Forrest Review, please contact:
Rachelle Towart
CEO
Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre
Mail: PO Box 4110
KINGSTON ACT 2604
Email: Rachelle@ailc.org.au
Ph:
02 6251 5770 / 0431 772 377
AILC response to Creating Parity – The Forrest Review
Sept 2014
Overview
It is important to say from the outset that we strongly welcome the release of a report which calls
for all Australians to work together immediately to help close the gap between Indigenous and nonIndigenous Australians.
We agree that despite good intentions, successive government programs have not made adequate
progress in bridging this gap and that as a consequence, dire consequences playing out in
joblessness, social dislocation, premature mortality and ill-health in Indigenous families across the
nation.
The report’s declaration that, “talent is universal but opportunity isn’t,” is a simple and elegant way
to describe the importance of education and training programs which are appropriate and relevant
to Indigenous people. We have seen the impact of our programs as they provide opportunity and
knowledge, opening up new horizons of possibilities for graduate after graduate.
It is therefore important to recognise the achievements of the report in dispelling myths about the
difficulties of achieving change and underscoring the importance of providing quality, relevant
training and opportunities to encourage and enable Indigenous people to pursue greater
achievements in education and careers.
As an organisation that is owned and run by Indigenous people, with a goal of building Indigenous
leadership and governance capacity across the country, we are aware of the urgency required to
address Indigenous disadvantage and the potential to achieve substantial change with the right
program responses. At the AILC we have seen first-hand the effectiveness of high quality education
programs in transforming lives, career opportunities and motivation to study.
While we welcome these key messages in the report, we also wanted to make comments in relation
to a number of specific recommendations, which we believe would be counter-productive in
achieving the shared goals of Closing the Gap.
Response to Recommendation 3: Improving educational outcomes
It is clearly important for young Indigenous people to stay in school and receive a high quality
education.
We believe curriculum needs to include Indigenous leadership skills as they are often critical in
helping young people break out of a cycle of disadvantage.
For some time we have observed that the Indigenous leadership programs we teach primarily to
adults have a strong resonance with students in senior school years. We have pioneered highly
successful youth leadership programs in a range of localities and believe a school-based Indigenous
leadership program would be a valuable addition to curriculum in many schools, helping young
people to deal with the social challenges that dominate the lives of many.
AILC response to Creating Parity – The Forrest Review
Sept 2014
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The AILC seeks further discussions with government on the potential to develop pilot Indigenous
leadership programs for schools, to provide a foundation program that will play a key role in helping
young people break out of cycles of entrenched disadvantage. The Certificate II in Indigenous
Leadership program for young people would teach relevant skills to students in Year 11 and 12 such
as career goal setting, communication, negotiation, conflict resolution, coping with grief and loss,
financial management and networking.
The program would enable young people to graduate from school with an additional, nationallyrecognised qualification, but more importantly would equip them with relevant skills and knowledge
to enable them to recognise their true potential and see a path out of their cycle of disadvantage.
As an organisation that has achieved a 95% retention rate for education programs and has delivered
outstanding education results, with our students achieving pay rises of an average of approximately
$14,000 after graduation, we have considerable experience in developing education solutions that
work for Indigenous people.
Improving the capability of teachers and resources for schools is important, however, it is also
important to identify the nature of capabilities required and the type of resources needed in order
to deliver results. Place-based education principles are essential in developing solutions that respond
to community strengths, needs and opportunities.
Response to Recommendation 14: Vocational education and training
Vocational education and training is very important, but needs to be evaluated in terms of the longterm outcomes and opportunities it provides. Short-term training programs that enable an
Indigenous person to be employed in a traineeship for a few months provide temporary relief to
unemployment statistics but don’t offer sustainable long-term change.
As the only national provider of both accredited Indigenous leadership and Indigenous governance
programs, the AILC delivers outstanding vocational outcomes precisely because our courses are
tailored to local needs, helping people to overcome the barriers which have prevented them
succeeding in education and/or work in the past.
As a result, AILC graduates frequently move from entry level positions to middle management, or
change career entirely as they realise their true potential and move along the path to achieving it.
An independent KPMG review of AILC programs and outcomes found that:
 60% of graduates of AILC accredited programs earned a promotion after completing their
course;
 79% said they had taken on an enhanced leadership role after finishing the course;
 Average incomes of AILC graduates rose almost $14,000 after graduation; and
 95% said they felt they were better leaders after completing an AILC course.
AILC response to Creating Parity – The Forrest Review
Sept 2014
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We don’t think the voucher system will work will in remote areas, where high transport costs, higher
education delivery costs and language differences mean it is more expensive to run courses. While
there is a substantial body of evidence showing the effectiveness of place-based education and
tailored education programs for Indigenous people, we believe the voucher system would inhibit
funding for these programs and do not believe it would be workable.
Response to Recommendation 16: Training in incarceration
We believe education and training are key to reducing rates of Indigenous incarceration and
recidivism. However, we believe Indigenous leadership programs are imperative as a foundation for
other education and training programs, because they enable Indigenous people to recognise the
importance and impact of where they have come from, the potential of their future and the way to
chart a course to get there.
The AILC has had early discussions with the Northern Territory Government about the potential to
deliver Certificate II Indigenous Leadership programs to inmates in the NT prison system, as well as a
more advanced Certificate IV course for inmates who already have some education qualifications.
Accredited AILC Indigenous leadership courses would give people the life plan and tools they need to
deal with life challenges and to determine a new, positive pathway that will lead them to achieving
their true potential. Without the tools to deal with conflict resolution, financial planning for
households, strategy, negotiation, coping with grief and loss and other key skills and knowledge
taught in AILC Indigenous leadership programs, it will be difficult for inmates to successfully
implement knowledge and skills developed in other education and training programs.
Response to Recommendation 20: Support for employers
It is critically important to encourage employers to take on more Indigenous staff, but there is no
long-term benefit in shoe-horning an Indigenous person into a job that they don’t want.
Given that many Indigenous people come from a position of social disadvantage, many are not
aware of their own potential or of potential work and career opportunities that they might try to
work towards.
It is therefore imperative to enable more Indigenous people to undertake programs like AILC’s
Certificate II in Indigenous Leadership so that they can have access to tools and expert guidance to
help them understand their true potential and their life goals. Once the course is completed
graduates will be more job-ready as a result of practical skills developed in class and they will also
have developed a stronger sense of their strengths, life and career goals.
In our experience, we have frequently found that problems surface in the lives of Indigenous people
when they have started in a job for the first time, because they are not fully prepared for the
AILC response to Creating Parity – The Forrest Review
Sept 2014
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challenge of work, new pressures from family, dealing with the new reality of going to work each day
and being at home around family less. It is important that Indigenous people are fully prepared for
the workforce before they enter the workplace, in order to deliver sustainable employment
outcomes.
Response to Recommendation 23: Local governance
We strongly agree that local communities need more say in how their communities are run and also
that tailored, relevant professional development and education programs are essential to grow
governance capacity, so that hard-working Indigenous leaders on boards across the nation are
equipped with the skills and knowledge required to carry out their responsibilities.
The AILC has partnered with the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC) to develop
an innovative Certificate IV in Business (Governance) program that we deliver as a tailored package
for Indigenous leaders across the country in order to build governance capacity.
While we strongly support the thrust of recommendations around growing local governance powers,
we also believe that it is imperative that Indigenous leaders can get access to governance training so
that they have the skills and knowledge required to exercise these new powers responsibly.
About the AILC
The AILC has changed the lives of thousands of Indigenous people through Indigenous leadership
and governance programs – including more than 1400 that have completed accredited AILC
qualifications.
Indigenous owned and run, the AILC's success in delivering accredited courses with relevance for
Indigenous people has delivered exceptional outcomes, with course retention rates averaging more
than 95% and a host of successful outcomes for course graduates. As a result of these outcomes, the
AILC has attracted support and partnership from several leading Australian corporations, as well as
all levels of government.
The AILC is the only national provider of accredited Indigenous leadership training in Australia and is
now also striving to set a new standard for Indigenous governance training. The AILC strives to set
new benchmarks in governance, curriculum and teaching delivery and, most importantly,
educational impact.
These substantial employment outcomes mean that the AILC will directly increase the incomes of
Indigenous leaders by more than $600 million over the next ten years if it can meet its enrolment
targets.
AILC response to Creating Parity – The Forrest Review
Sept 2014
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