It is good to hear about university numbers however one wonders about the destination of graduates, presumably many go into the public bureaucracies and academia.

What many would most likely want to hear about is the number of men and women successfully undertaking trade apprenticeship and other trainee programs, where all levels of government and private industry have assisted opportunities in place, along with a the usual range of mentors that one finds in Aboriginal education. To quote from a government source, skills shortages continue to occur where there is a mismatch between available skilled people and the current and emerging needs of industry, resulting in critical short term and long term problems for Australia's economic health and the quality of life for Australians.

As is shown by the continuing demand for skilled migrants, industry is crying out for more young people to take up apprenticeships and traineeships. To take a rather obvious example, millions have been squandered on indigenous housing programs that result in few houses and those that are built are rarely if ever seen as suitable. What an opportunity for young indigenous women and men to learn skills that are strongly in demand and address a problem that so far has resisted solution?

Frankly it is elitist to concentrate on university education and if government is to believed, the throughput for many courses already exceeds requirements. Certainly many graduates experience difficulty in finding work that makes good use of their education. Arguably more attention should be paid to addressing the critical skills needs identified by government. Better to be building Australia and seeing some results on a daily basis than putting a gloss on a clerical chair for forty years.

In the last week, we had difficulty getting a roof tiler, a plumber and an outboard motor mechanic. If the clock was would backwards or forwards several years the same shortfalls of skills would similarly be unavailable. Those are just a few skills that we could not source under a fortnight's notice, if then. As for lawyers, they chase ambulances don't they?

errr....how many of these 'aborigines' are even slightly black??
Mind you, with abstudy, why look a gift horse in the mouth?
One rule for them and one for the rest.
Come back Pauline, Oz needs you

This is one of my biggest gripes. Education but for what ? To create an even larger group of unproduceables to stick their gobs into the feeding trough provided by those whom they consider to be lesser ?
This is the area where the Unions have failed us so miserably. Where is the incentive to work physically when all one does is to provide a cosy position for public servants.
Education should mean exploiting intelligence for the better & not creating an ever growing society of hangers on.

Of COURSE it's a great thing for Indigenous participation...why should it not be ?

The bleeding obvious here also, is that they are quite CAPABLE of doing such study.. in which case.. they should be welcomed into mainstream Australian society.

It probably makes it hard though, to revert to wandering the desert carrying ya boomerang and nulla nulla chasing a wallaby or goanna for tucker.

So.. given a Uni education should fit them for modern life... GREAT... I recommend they simply slide in to life as well educated "Australians"...NOT as "Indigenous" people.

And for those who just spilt their coffee (decaffinated of course) all over your keyboard.. I hasten to add "Just like WE ..the Scots, Irish,English and Welsh and many others who come to the Aussie national party as "AUSTRALIANS" and not wearing our kilts, or whatever cultural acretions we might if we wished to promote our 'cultural/ethnic' background.

I don't often agree with Algoreisrich, but on this occasion i think you make a very valid point. Most of these "Aboriginal" graduates are already in mainstream society, that is why they have become graduates. Unless they push the point, mainstream society does not see them as aboriginals at all and it is time the government stopped giving them extra priveleges because of their aboriginality.

The real aboriginals still live in the bush and unless there is a major change (I'm not too sure what) then they shall forever remain poor and destitute except for those in Alice Springs who can spend their government handout on the pokies in the Alice Springs casino.

That's great, Aboriginal people deserve to be treated as everyone else is treated, fairly! Good on them for achieving their dreams!
I am a woman and have achieved my dreams in the design industry and feel very proud of myself, they should be too.

Andrea

Logoland Australia
www.logoland.com.au