Abstract
This chapter provides a “state-of-play” of Indigenous education in Australia. Over the past half century or so, the process of, and advocacy for, decolonization of Indigenous education has gathered pace, culminating with recent developments in Indigenizing the curriculum at both tertiary and school-level education systems. The challenges and opportunities faced in the delivery of national curriculum demands and managing the complexities of the private/public interface of Australian education for Indigenous education are explored. This chapter will draw on a range of literature and research, including the findings from Indigenous-led Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success (previously The National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education) funded research projects. The coauthors have drawn on the findings from two projects led by Professor Bronwyn Fredericks: one on the success factors for Indigenous student university completion (Fredericks B, Barney K, Bunda T, Hausia K, Martin A, Elston J, Bernardino B, Griffiths D, Building the evidence to improve completion rates for Indigenous students, 2022) and a project on links between enabling/ pathway programs and Indigenous student completion (Fredericks et al. 2025). It will reflect on changes in Indigenous student success rates in the Australian tertiary sector and ask what has changed since the Australian Government’s Review of Higher Education Access and Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People: Final Report (Behrendt L, Larkin S, Griew R, Kelly P, Review of higher education access and outcomes for aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: final report, 2012). We will conclude by suggesting what universities can do to lead stronger university pathway programs and post-enrollment mechanisms to support Indigenous student success and degree completion. Thousands of Indigenous peoples have pursued university studies through a range of pathways since Indigenous Australians first enrolled in undergraduate programs in Australian universities in the 1960s. University completion rates for Indigenous Australian students remain significantly lower than for non-Indigenous students.