Aboriginal Task Force

About

The first tertiary program of its kind in Australia, the Aboriginal Task Force provided education in social work and community development for Aboriginal students from across the country.

Reflections from Professor Paul Hughes, AM, FACE
Emeritus Professor, UniSA David Unaipon College
of Indigenous Education and Research

“In the 1970s after the national referendum amending our constitution had promised more rights to Aboriginal Australians, the mood for change in Australia was pervasive.
For Aboriginal people empowerment through education became central. The call was on to educate 1000 Aboriginal teachers by 1990 and a national program was set up to achieve just that with funds and support from the Commonwealth.
The Aboriginal Task Force established at the South Australian Institute of Technology in 1973 provided some of the first education in social work specifically for Indigenous students in Australia and the program was like a magnet for newly political Aboriginal youth who wanted to make a difference to their communities.
It was the first tertiary program of its kind in Australia and provided an enclave of support for its students and a path forward that encouraged careers built on education.
The Torrens College for Advanced Education’s Teacher Education program for Aboriginal students established in 1978 was also significant.
After being active on the National Education Committee and the Chair of the SA Aboriginal Education Consultative Committee, I was pushing very hard to win support for educational opportunities.

I chaired the planning committee for the Task Force and ran that first Teacher Education Program and there was a real spirit of empowerment and achievement.
It was only the third teacher training program for Aboriginal people in Australia, but our State became a leading exponent of how to do it well.
The combination of academic and cultural support and the sense of commitment to student success made it a great place to study.
It’s from those roots that the University built a commitment to Indigenous education and to the inclusion of Indigenous knowledge and research in UniSA’s curriculum, culture and consciousness.”