Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have spoken before in this place about the reality of living in a post-apology world and moving forward with positive steps that will enable us to close the gap between Indigenous Australians and the rest of the community. The people of the Sutherland Shire, in my electorate of Cook, are playing a proactive role in meeting these challenges. I am pleased to say today that shire schools in Cook are also doing their part. Endeavour Sports High School has set up a program for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students which is aimed at embracing their culture and helping them achieve their sporting and academic potential, which, as their school says, is their entitlement. The ultimate purpose of the program is to close the gap between Indigenous students and the rest of the school population. The program started in 2002 with just two students and one mentor teacher. The program has now grown to cater for 70 kids, and it is getting bigger every day.

Many of the Indigenous students attending the school are from remote areas and board in the shire while they learn. Teachers found that students could suffer a sense of loss and dislocation or a fractured cultural identity or come from dysfunctional families. They also found that, because of the reduced life span in Indigenous communities, the students often needed to attend funerals and were constantly grieving for loved ones. Indigenous teacher-mentor Rick O’Brien was the driving force behind the program and, together with Endeavour Sports High School’s head of teacher training, Liz Stone, expanded it to meet those challenges. Liz and Rick network with a range of agencies to provide quality student services and culturally appropriate programs which address the students’ particular needs.

The program offers students educational courses, which include literacy and numeracy assessment, and small-group tutorials. It offers a student wellbeing program, which employs an Indigenous mentor, Isaac Gordon, and which addresses issues such as respect, sexual health, drugs, alcohol and the transition to further learning programs, including school based traineeships and the completion of credentials such as RSA and security guard training. I am pleased to report just a few of the many success stories of this program. Beau Champion is a graduate and now plays first-grade football for the South Sydney Rabbitohs—I would prefer it to be the Sharks, but it is the South Sydney Rabbitohs. They won their third game of the year just the other night; congratulations to Beau and his team. Then there is Dave, a student who came from a modest hut with a dirt floor in Goodooga. He is now at the University of Newcastle studying horticulture.

My thanks to Endeavour Sports High School, particularly to Principal Sue Cran, who was very enthusiastic about the program, and to the staff for their continued hard work in making the Indigenous program the success that it is and for positively impacting on the lives of Indigenous youth. Endeavour Sports High School is a fine example of a committed community school working to support Indigenous people overcome their many challenges and helping to bring our communities together. Congratulations to all the students involved. I wish them all the best for the future.