Interdisciplinary Seminar:
Education for Employment, Economic Independence and Decision-making
Convener: Suhad Jarrar-Browne, Great Britain

Indigenous Australian Women and Educational Leadership
Nereda White, Australian Federation of University Women and Tracey A. Bunda, Non-member, Australia

The place of indigenous peoples in the Australian nation has, for the white Australian nation, remained a troubled site. Through historical periods of eradication, protectionism, assimilation and reconciliation a ‘new’ imaging of the relationship between black and white Australians is being projected into the consciousness of the nation. Foundational to this new imaging is the need for a dynamic indigenous leadership to vision the role of Indigenous peoples and communities in the nation’s future. This is a critical consideration but it is undermined by the nation’s representation of indigenous leadership primarily through indigenous men. This popular political model is contested by indigenous women who have not relinquished their roles as leaders within their own communities.

As recipients of a national competitive grant from the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, the presenters will speak to their project Tiddas (Sisters) Talkin’ Up, Showin’ Up and Puttin’ Up: Indigenous Women and Educational Leadership.The educational focus for this leadership project is directed towards Indigenous academic women who live in a [sur]reality of competing expectations of the academic and indigenous communities. The university is seen as an ideal site for the recruitment and development of indigenous women’s leadership and capacity building although concepts of leadership are acknowledged as being constructed within ‘white ways of knowing’ educational theory. This tension – Indigenous women’s epistemological practice and the desire to reconstitute leadership theory are addressed in the project. Bunda and White are Indigenous women, active in their communities and respected academics in the university sector.

Dr Nereda White holds a PhD in Education from the Australian Catholic University, where she is Co-ordinator of the Weemala Indigenous Unit at the Brisbane campus. Her doctoral study explores the career development of university-educated Indigenous women, and women’s groups are part of her active involvement in Brisbane’s Indigenous community, although her involvement includes general health and education issues.

Tracey A. Bunda is a graduate in Education from Queensland University of Technologywho is currently completing a PhD at the University of South Australia. Her appointment as Director of the Yunggorendi First Nations Centre for Education and Research, Flinders University follows appointments in university Indigenous programmes across several Australian States. Her ministerial appointment to the National Indigenous Higher Education Councilreflects her wide experience in organizations dealing with Indigenous educational issues. She is one of 3 Indigenous appointments to the Australian University Quality Audit.