Past, Present and Future: Acknowledging Indigenous Achievement and Aspiration in Higher Education

The number of Indigenous students enrolled in higher education is increasing. Yet parity with the proportion of domestic students attending university remains some way off. This review outlines the efforts that have been made to reduce the gap in Indigenous staff and student outcomes.Looking at the Australian higher education sector in 20 years’ time the authors ask what is the future for senior Indigenous appointments and the aspiration of including Indigenous knowledge in the curriculum? The review identifies one pathway to Indigenous workforce outcomes is through postgraduate programs. It describes efforts underway to embed Indigenous perspectives into the broader curriculum. The review concludes with some optimism that Indigenous Australian outcomes are gradually moving from the margins to the centre of universities missions albeit at a pace that will need to improve to achieve parity by 2040