NEWS AND MEDIA

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says an AIEF Scholar – like Lowanna Moran,
the first student to complete both her secondary and tertiary education on AIEF
Scholarships – will one day become Prime Minister.

At the launch of AIEF’s ground-breaking guide to best practice in
Indigenous education, Latiesha Dunbar told an audience including business
leaders and the Prime Minister that AIEF’s support helped her keep a promise to
become the first person in her family to finish Year 12.

The Weekend Australian’s Business Pulse of the Nation reports from the
AIEF Compendium and Annual Report Launch.

An editorial in The Australian says the latest edition of the Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage report highlights the effectiveness of programs developed by communities and says that such initiatives, as well as the work of non-government organisations like AIEF “should continue for as long as it takes” to ensure Indigenous Australians “enjoy the prosperity and opportunities other Australians take for granted”

Editor-in-Chief of The Australian Women’s Weekly Helen McCabe says that attending boarding school changed her life and introduced her to a whole new world of learning. In The Weekend Australian she says she is proud to support AIEF’s efforts to provide the same opportunities to a generation of Indigenous children.

David Gonski AC says that education can have impact not only on a family, but in the wider community, and that he believes strongly in the work of AIEF, “an organisation dedicated to bringing great education opportunities within the reach of young Indigenous Australians”.

Journalist and broadcaster Jennifer Byrne says her education led to opportunities that have shaped the course of her life. In The Weekend Australian she says she’s backing AIEF to create opportunities “so young Indigenous Australians can keep kicking their own goals.”

AIEF Scholar Tristan from Lockhart River in Cape York is about to become the first person in his family to finish Year 12. His achievements have inspired his little brother Paddy, now in Year 9, to pursue his education alongside his brother at St Joseph’s Nudgee College in Brisbane.

As CEO of Qantas, Alan Joyce sees they power of education in his workforce every day. He says it has played a vital role in his own life and that Qantas is proud to support AIEF, an organisation which recognises the power of education to create opportunities for Indigenous Australians.

AIEF CEO Andrew Penfold comments on the results of the Remote Jobs and Communities Program.

Andrew Penfold writes that existing incentive schemes for teachers in remote Indigenous schools which encourage teachers to “serve time” should be changed to attract quality teaching and offer career advancement opportunities for teachers who achieve results.

John Eales AM believes education is an equaliser in society and a gateway to opportunity. In The Weekend Australian he says that he supports AIEF “because through education, they are ensuring equal opportunity in Australia”.