Aboriginal Educational Consultative Group Inc
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Partnership Agreement

Partnership Agreement iconThe Partnership Agreement is detailed through the NSW AECG Pamphlet titled Securing a collaborative partnership into the future.

The New South Wales Department of Education and Training was established in 1997.
The Department supports schools, TAFE NSW, vocational education and training services and adult and community education. It unifies the NSW Government's focus and continued commitment to Aboriginal education.

The New South Wales Education Consultative Group Incorporated was established in 1976 with a mandate to provide Aboriginal education from early childhood, through schooling to tertiary and community education to education providers at local, regional and state levels.

The NSW Department of Education and Training and the NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Incorporated agree that both parties will:

  • Ensure that the agenda for Aboriginal education is determined with the assistance of Aboriginal people
  • Promote the educational achievements of Aboriginal students
  • Educate all students about Aboriginal Australia
  • Develop and deliver culturally appropriate programs for Aboriginal students
  • Ensure Aboriginal input into decision making
  • Respect the diversity of Aboriginal culture
  • Consult on the targeting of resources that ensure equitable outcomes for Aboriginal students
  • Consult to provide innovative solutions to education for Aboriginal students
  • Increase the knowledge and skills of staff in Aboriginal history, culture and contemporary issues.

Over the past 21 years, the NSW Department of Education and Training and the NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Incorporated have developed a strong partnership. This partnership is based on mutual respect, consultation, inclusive decision making and the participation of Indigenous people in setting goals and direction for education and training in this State.

The NSW Department of Education and Training and the NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Incorporated are committed to continuing this partnership into the new millennium. A partnership that extends from early childhood to vocational education and training, benefiting both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians.

We commit both organisations to going forward together.

 

Ken Boston
Director General of
Education and Training
Managing Director of TAFE NSW
28 May 1999

 

Charles Davison
President NSW Aboriginal
Education Consultative
Group Incorporated
28 May 1999

STATEMENTS OF COMMITMENT

The NSW Department of Education and Training will continue to:

  • Recognise the NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Inc as the Peak advisory body on Aboriginal education
  • Ensure that future policies and practices are inclusive of the needs of Aboriginal people through consultation with the NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Inc
  • Be committed to Reconciliation through education and training
  • Be committed to achieving equitable outcomes for Aboriginal people in education and training
  • Accept that the knowledge of local Aboriginal culture and language is owned by Aboriginal communities who can determine how that knowledge is shared with the wider community
  • Ensure that Aboriginal people are partners in the development, implementation and evaluation of Aboriginal education programs and resources
  • Recognise the right of Aboriginal people to be consulted and involved in education and training within the terms of the Education Act of 1990
  • Recognise the right of Aboriginal people to culturally appropriate education and training and the right of all students to be education about Aboriginal Australia
  • Encourage the participation of all NSW Department of Education and Training staff from All levels in the NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Inc
  • Recognise the inherent right of Aboriginal people express and develop their own identity
  • Acknowledge the contribution of Aboriginal staff of the Department to education and training
  • Acknowledge and accept the leadership and management provided by Departmental Aboriginal educators

The NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Inc will continue to:

  • Recognise the commitment of the NSW Department of Education and Training to Aboriginal education and training
  • Recognise the commitment of the NSW Department of Education and Training to changing past policies and practices that negatively impacted on Aboriginal students
  • Provide support for the implementation of the 1996 Aboriginal Education Policy in the school sector of the Department
  • Provide advice on appropriate policies for vocational education and training, adult and community education
  • Promote the active involvement of Aboriginal communities in education and training, both for the education of Aboriginal students and the education of non-Aboriginal students about Aboriginal Australia
  • Work with partnership with the NSW Department of Education and Training to provide informed community-based advice to build on and strengthen the partnership and promote an understanding of Aboriginal Australia
  • Be committed to Reconciliation through promoting an awareness of the cultural and socio-economic diversity between and within Aboriginal communities
  • Promote an awareness of the holistic nature of Aboriginal life and the inter-relatedness of Aboriginal societal issues
  • Promote a broad range of innovative strategies to address Aboriginal education and training
  • Encourage NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Inc members to work collaboratively and supportively with officers of the NSW Department of Education and Training to achieve agreed education objectives

The NSW AECG Inc

Has played a crucial role in determining the direction of Aboriginal education and training. The consultative framework established by the AECG Inc with the NSW Department of Education and Training has been mutually beneficial, providing Aboriginal communities with a mechanism for the identification of Aboriginal needs and aspirations and giving public education providers a unique and authoritative insight into those needs and aspirations. This is lead to:

Innovative policies -

Aboriginal Education Policy (1982)-the first of its kind in Australia
Aboriginal Education Policy (1996) and Training and Development Resource Package
NSW TAFE Commission Aboriginal Education and Training Policy

Increased positions to support Aboriginal education -

Education Officers -
Aboriginal Community Support
Consultants, Aboriginal Education
Aboriginal Education Assistants
Aboriginal Employment Officers
Aboriginal Student Support Officers
Aboriginal Education Workers
Aboriginal Education Resource Teachers
Aboriginal Development Managers
Aboriginal Co-ordinator

Innovative courses -

2 Unit HSC Aboriginal Studies course
Aboriginal Studies 7-10
The Diploma of Aboriginal Studies

Improved access to services -

The Aboriginal Early Language Development Programs
Nine pre-schools in Aboriginal communities
Mobile Units in TAFE
TAFE collages at Walgett, Boggabilla and Lake Cargellico
Eora Centre - the first visual and performing arts centre in TAFE nationally
Djigay Centre - Kempsey

Improving outcomes -

Mentor programs for staff and students
Whole School Anti-Racism Project and Grievance Procedures
Merit Selection criteria for schools with significant Aboriginal populations
Aboriginal Teacher Orientation Programs
Aboriginal Teacher's Leadership Course
Visiting Speaker's Program
Otitis Media research and resource production
Affirmative action for employment of teachers under EEO
An increase in Aboriginal participation in TAFE to equitable levels
Innovative TAFE courses leading to mainstream programs

The AECG plays a vital role in:

  • Recruitment of staff for schools with significant enrolments of Aboriginal students
  • Providing advice to the Minister of Education and Training on Aboriginal education and training
  • The development of other policies which impact on the education of Aboriginal students
  • The Reconciliation process

The AECG maintains its key direction and partnership through engagement with:

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy Strategic Planning Co-ordinating Committee

  • The NSW Office of the Board of Studies- Member of the Board of Studies, President's Aboriginal Education Initiatives Advisory Committee and Curriculum Committees
  • The NSW Department of Education and Training- Director General's Advisory Committee on Aboriginal Education and Training, Board of Adult and Community Education, State Disadvantaged School's Programs Committee
  • TAFE Institute Councils
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Training Advisory Council to ANTA
  • NSW Teacher's Federation
  • Interdepartmental Committee on Otitis Media

SECURING A COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIP

Both the NSW Department of Education and Training and the NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Inc recognise the responsibility of their offices and members to work collaboratively to:

  • Promote the educational achievements of Aboriginal students
  • Educate all students about Aboriginal Australia

AECG Regions AECG map of regions

  • Western III
  • Western II
  • North West I
  • North West II
  • Upper North Coast
  • Lower North Coast
  • Manning
  • Western I
  • Hunter
  • Metropoliton-East,North,SouthWest,West
  • Riverina III
  • Riverina II
  • Riverina I
  • Upper South Coast
  • Lower South Coast

School District Offices (Country)

  • Moree
  • Tweed Heads/Ballina
  • Lismore
  • Clarence/Coffs Harbour
  • Armidale
  • Tamworth
  • Port Macquarie
  • Broken Hill
  • Dubbo
  • Taree
  • Maitland
  • Newcastle
  • Lake Macquarie
  • Orange
  • Central Coast
  • Bathurst
  • Griffith
  • Wollongong
  • Shellharbour
  • Wagga Wagga
  • Queanbeyan
  • Batemans Bay
  • Deniliquin
  • Albury

School District Offices (Metro)

  • Penrith
  • Mount Druitt
  • Blacktown
  • Hornsby
  • Northern Beaches
  • Parramatta
  • Ryde
  • Fairfield
  • Granville
  • Bondi
  • Port Jackson
  • Bankstown
  • St George
  • Liverpool
  • Sutherland
  • Campbelltown

 

 

TAFE NSW (Country)

  • Western Institute of TAFE
  • New England Institute of TAFE
  • North Coast Institute of TAFE
  • Hunter Institute of Technology
  • Metro
  • Riverina Institute of TAFE
  • Illawarra Institute of Technology

TAFE NSW (Metro)

  • Western Sydney Institute of TAFE
  • Northern Sydney Institute of Technology
  • Open Training and Education Network (OTEN) Distance Education
  • Sydney Institute of Technology
  • South Western Sydney Institute of TAFE
  • Southern Sydney Institute of TAFE

Contacts

NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Inc

37 Cavendish Street
Stanmore NSW 2048
Phone: 9550 5666
Fax: 9550 3361
Email: info@nswaecg.com.au

NSW Department of Education and Training

35 Bridge Street
(GPO Box 33 Sydney 2001)
Sydney NSW 2000
Phone: 9561 8000

NSW Department of Education and Training - Aboriginal Programs Unit

Level 14,1 Oxford Street
(GPO Box 33 Sydney 2001)
Darlinghurst NSW 2010
Phone: 9244 5383
Fax: 9244 5365

NSW Department of Education and Training - Aboriginal Studies

3A Smalls Road
Ryde NSW 2112
Phone: 9886 7610,
9886 7509
9887 6675
Fax: 9886 7571

NSW Department of Education and Training - Adult and Community Education

Level 13, 1 Oxford Street
(GPO Box33 Sydney 2001)
Darlinghurst NSW 2010
Phone: 9266 8004
Fax: 9266 8505

NSW Department of Education and Training -
Open Training and Education Network (Distance Education)
Aboriginal Student Support Unit

51 Wentworth Road
Strathfield NSW 2135
Phone: 9715 8619
9715 8615
9715 8611
Fax: 9715 8409