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Commitments
QUT's Reconciliation Statement contains the following commitments in
relation to community service.
In consultation with Indigenous Australian people, QUT will:
- encourage staff and students to develop and participate in community
service activities that are inclusive of Indigenous Australian people
and perspectives
- engage in public debate and discussion on Indigenous issues to increase
awareness and appreciation of Indigenous histories and cultures and
to promote reconciliation in the wider community.
Progress
The University’s current community engagement is characterised
by two main facets: a centralised grants scheme and a plethora of activities
disbursed amongst the faculties and divisions. Below are examples of these
activities:
- Carseldine’s Oodgeroo Unit hosted a two-day workshop for the
‘Walking Together in Partnership Project’ which involved
community Elders and representatives from key Indigenous service providers
meeting to discuss community capacity-building on Brisbane’s north
side. The project is an initiative designed to build a formal partnership
agreement between the Brisbane Northside Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander community and the State Government. The project aims to develop
a more flexible, accessible, coordinated process that will enable both
Indigenous and government service providers to work in partnership to
accommodate the needs of the Northside Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander community.
- A joint initiative between the Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering
(Design), Creative Industries and Oodgeroo Unit resulted in the development
of a thought-provoking ‘Indigenous Environment Forum’. It
is envisaged that this multi-disciplinary forum on the cultural expression
of created environments for Indigenous people will facilitate greater
collaboration within QUT between various disciplines, faculties and
interest groups, and with other universities and the broader design
profession in Australia. The forum explored how the Australian landscape
and the notion of ‘place’ and ‘identity’ filter
and shape the way we understand and interact with the built environment.
Click here for a copy of the Forum’s program.
- Public engagement continues across the University via attendance
at public events such as National Reconciliation Week which includes
Sorry Day and Mabo Day, NAIDOC Week, public seminars/lectures, and through
Oodgeroo Unit staff engaging in various professional development seminars
for external organisations and high schools, community forums and decision-making
bodies.
- The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) developed with ATSIC-SEQ included
collaboration in the area of capacity-building partnerships. The formal
review of the MOU with ATSIC-SEQ was deferred due to the change of Commonwealth
Government policy and its intervention in disbanding ATSIC. The new
SEQ-ATSIS Regional Council has recently launched its regional plan and
discussions will be held for further engagement in the context of the
plan. For
more information on QUT’s original MOU with ATSIC refer to the
QUT media release.
- The University's community engagement is currently being repositioned
and the Reconciliation commitment will form part of this re-thinking.
Contacts
For more information contact:
Mary Kelly
Equity Coordinator
Equity Section
Phone: (07) 3138 2699
Email: ma.kelly@qut.edu.au
Victor Hart
Manager
Oodgeroo Unit
Phone: (07) 3138 3610
Email: v.hart@qut.edu.au
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