What factors have historically led to

Australian indigenous people being

marginalized from mainstream
education?
Since the ships first arrived and the European settlers walked the land of Australia there has
been a marginalization between Indigenous and non-indigenous people. As the years
progressed there have been many circumstances that have influenced and fueled this
marginalization. Right up until present day where Australian Indigenous people have been
marginalized and omitted from mainstream schooling. Such events that occurred include
the frontier conflict; the stolen generation and the refusal of education have put a lot of
pressure on the reason of the large gap between the education of the Aboriginal Australians
and the non-Aboriginal Australians. The government that contributed towards this
marginalization has also tried to close this gap with the use of policies they have created
over the 1900s until the present day.
Dating back to 1788 when the first European settlers arrived in Australia, the Indigenous
people have been marginalized. The aborigines lived on the foreshores of the harbor, near
what is known now as the Capital City of New South Wales, Sydney. When the settlers
arrived they began to claim the Aborigines land and also claiming more up and down the
coast of Sydney. The initial contact between the Europeans and the Aboriginal people was
tranquil until the settlers began to establish land ownership; conflict was then an inevitable
occurrence. The Aboriginal people possessed different religious beliefs, they believed in the
Dreamtime. Beliefs of the Dreamtime were that their ancestors created the world they live
in; the shining sun, the bushy trees, the wild animals and of course themselves, the
aboriginals. Whilst majority of the settlers arriving in Australia were of Catholic or Christian
religion claimed by the Church of England. With the differences and conflict of their land
and religion, lines were drawn between the Indigenous inhabitants and European settlers,
leading to a long disturbance of the land.
Convict George Bath adopted and provided a European style education for an indigenous
child whose parents were shot (Cazdow, 2007, pg 2). This is one of the first attempts of a
European settler to education an aboriginal child, in 1790. Since 1790 attempts have
continually been made to make aboriginal people subject to an education and a future, such
as the Black Town Aboriginal School. In 1853 the New South Wales board of National
educationregarded efforts at providing education for aboriginal people to be futile
(Cazdow, 2007, pg 5). In 1902 Aboriginal children were refused entry to many schools due to
non-indigenous families making claims that their childrens morals and welfare were at risk,
from things such as disease and the bad hygiene of the indigenous people. From the early
1910s, Aboriginal students were excluded from schools in NSW and Western Australia, legal
action was taken in some cases, and were never successful. Petitions were constantly made
throughout the years by white families against the attendance of aboriginal children in
schools. After years of rejection and exclusion, in 1972 The NSW Department of Education
addressed the issue of aboriginal students attending public schools with non-aboriginal
students. The Department of Education removed the principals of public schools rights to
refuse aboriginal students from entering their school.
APB stands for the Aborigines Protection Board; from 1909 to 1969 they were responsible
for the forced removal of the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Island children from their
families. This policy was formed solely to try and get children to lose their Aboriginality,
making the children be part of the white community in a hope to extinguish the aboriginal
race. The children were removed without parental consent, and put into non-aboriginal
families, foster homes, and even institutions. Non-Indigenous people believed they were
doing the right thing, and improving the lives and opportunities of the children. Many of the
children involved in the stolen generation were put in horrifying homes, resulting in the
indigenous children being sexually and physically abused. My time in The Home of the
Good Shepherd caused me mental trauma, which I feel destroyed my soul as a person.
(Terszak, 2007). Even still today, people are suffering the trauma of their childhood. Many
indigenous people resulted to drugs and alcohol, and lost trust in the government, non-
aboriginal people and even everyone, due to their terrifying experiences they carry with
them for the rest of their lives.
Nowadays, there is still a slow building bridge between the education of indigenous and
non-indigenous people. Dr Stephen Zubrick, an author of the Western Australian Aboriginal
Child Health Survey states that if an Aboriginal child has a Close relative who has been
directly affected by forced separation has a negative impact on a childs educational
outcomes(Campell et al, 2023), this directly relates to the traumatizing experience of the
Stolen generation, indigenous people who went through that possibly would have lost trust
in the government and dont want to put their own children in a government system, which
interconnects with schools and their education, resulting in less entries into schools. Other
reasons for Aboriginal parents not allowing their children to enter schools with non-
aboriginal children, can be due to their experience or relatives experience of being refused
entry to schools as they didnt want to mix races together due to the non-aboriginal parents
beliefs about the indigenous people. For generations this will be an ongoing issue as the
hate the parents have can be passes down the generations of children.

In 1989, the council brought in a new policy called the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander education policy (AEP). In contained twenty one long term goals to achieve in the
10 years for educational equality between races. There are four main themes in the AEP;
involvement of aboriginal people in education decision-making, achievement of equality of
access to educational services, achievement of fairness of educational participation, and
accomplishment of reasonable and appropriate educational outcomes. More policies have
arisen since the first AEP policy, such as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education
action plan for 2010-2014. The purpose of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Education Action Plan (the Plan) is to assist education providers to accelerate improvements
in the educational outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young
people(Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs,
2010, pg 4). There are results that show that since the 1970s, education of the Aboriginal
people and Torres Straight islanders have increased massively, but not to the extent at
which the government is satisfied with. Over the next couple of generations of Aboriginal
people we should see an increase of educated indigenous people, due to the next couple of
generations not being a part of the horrible devastation and traumatic experiences of the
Stolen Generations
A largely discussed question is what do some aboriginal families actually think about
receiving a education, is it worth their time? Like non-aboriginal people, there are always
various people who dont want to have further education past the legal requirement. Some
people dont find that having a full education is a large factor in their lives, or dont require
it for their chosen career or lifestyle.
Australian Indigenous people have been and are still marginalized from mainstream
education. Due to the difficult and sometimes horrifying history of the Aboriginal people,
including the brutal conflicts on the frontier following European settlement and the
appalling treatment of Indigenous people, families and children between 1909 and 1969.
Even with the many Government attempts and policies created to close the gap between
the Aboriginal and non-aboriginal people, a life changing results for these indigenous
children has not been reached. With the effect of the catastrophic segregation of Indigenous
parents and their children throughout the Stolen Generations, and the refusal of aboriginal
children in the middle 1900s from public schools due to the color of their skin, parents
passed their hate and fears to the children about the government and the non-indigenous
people, resulting in less involvement in schools as they are controlled by the same
government that their parents were affected by. These factors have strongly influenced why
the Indigenous children and families are still marginalized from mainstream education.















References
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and reporting Authority (2009). National Report on Schooling in
Australia. Retrieved 5/5/2013, from
http://www.acara.edu.au/reporting/national_report_on_schooling_2009/aboriginal_and_torres_str
ait_islander_education/aboriginal_and_torres_strait_islander_education1.html

Campell, P. Kelly, P. Harrison, L. (2012) The Problem of Aboriginal Marginalisation:
Education, Labour Markets and Social and Emotional Well-Being. Working Papers. Retrieved
from:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:1jT8MLNhRh0J:www.deakin.edu.au/resea
rch-services/forms/v/3280/wps-31w.pdf+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au

Cazdow, A. (2007) A NSW Aboriginal Education Timeline 1788-2007. Retrieved 4/05/13. From
http://ab-ed.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/files/timeline1788-2007.pdf
MCCETYKA Taskforce on Indigenous Education (2000) Achieving Educational Equality for
Australias Aboriginal Equality for Australias Aboriginal and Torres Straight Island
Peoples. Retrieved 5/5/13. From
http://www.mceecdya.edu.au/verve/_resources/reporta_file.pdf
Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (2010). Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islanders; Education Action plan 2010-2014. Retrieved 4/05/2013, from
http://www.mceecdya.edu.au/verve/_resources/a10-0945_ieap_web_version_final2.pdf
Terszak, Mary (2007) Orphaned by the Colour of My Skin: A Stolen Generation Story. Maleny QLD:
Verdant House.
Welch, A.R. (1988) Aboriginal Education as Internal Colonialism: the schooling of an
indigenous minority in Australia. Comparative Education Volume 24 (2). Retrieved from:
http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy1.acu.edu.au/stable/pdfplus/3099076.pdf?acceptTC=true











HIST106 Research Essay Comments Template
This assignment assesses the following Learning Outcomes and Graduate Attributes:
Learning Outcomes:
LO1 Knowledge of the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander cultures by becoming more familiar with historical
processes and their importance to contemporary contexts
LO4 Understanding of the development and persistence of racism in
Australian society
Graduate Attributes:
GA1 demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for
human diversity
GA2 recognise their responsibility to the common good, the
environment and society
GA4 think critically and reflectively
GA5 demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to
the discipline and/or profession
GA6 solve problems in a variety of settings taking local and
international perspectives into account
GA8 locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information
GA9 demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English
language and visual media

Name:

Criteria LO and GA
Assessed
Needs
Improvement
Satisfactory Good Excellent
Relevance and engagement with selected topic
Essay clearly relates to selected topic LO1, GA4,8
Essay adequately considers all aspects of selected topic LO1, GA4,6,8
Attention to historical aspects of the question, especially the
historical persistence of racial prejudice and discrimination in
Australian society
LO4, GA1,2,4,8
Argument presents a clear and consistent position GA4,5,8,9
Argument is relevant to the proposed topic LO1, GA4,8,9
Argument and analysis demonstrate independent and
original critical thought
LO1, GA4,5,8
Claims and conclusions are supported by evidence GA4,5,8,9
Sources
Sufficient quantity of sources (no set number as different
approaches will require different ranges of material, but all
essay should use at least 5 scholarly sources plus any other
relevant material such as primary sources)
GA4,5,6,8
Sources are scholarly and appropriate for a university
research essay
GA5,6,8
Sources are relevant to the chosen topic LO1, GA4,5,6,8
Evidence that all listed sources have contributed to the
essay
GA4,8,9
Structure
Overall essay structure is clear and follows conventions of
argumentative essay writing
GA4,5,9
Introduction clearly introduces the topic and argument LO1, GA4,8,9
Body paragraphs are of appropriate length, and clearly and
logically advance the argument
LO1, GA4,5,8,9
Conclusion restates and reinforces the overall argument and
key points
LO1, GA4,5,8,9
Clarity and quality of expression (including spelling,
grammar, range of vocabulary, variation of sentence
structure, etc.)
GA4,5,8,9
Adherence to academic styles and conventions (including
citations and bibliography)
GA5,9
Comments:
Grade: