CQUniversity marked the start of National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) Week with a flag raising ceremony (July 6) at Rockhampton Campus, led by Darumbal Elder Ethel Speedy and Vice-Chancellor John Rickard.

Ms Speedy provided a Welcome to Country and acknowledged the benefits of the University observance. She said she hoped it would expand in coming years and explained that "practical measures" such as the ceremony, helped to bring people together.

Guest speaker Ethel Speedy

"We just... want to be as one..because we all live in this beautiful land don't we," said Ms Speedy.

LINK here to video of the ceremony

"The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities - which are diverse and rich -  are CQUniversity communities and all of us come together today, drawn by this year's theme of honouring our Elders and nurturing our Youth," said Vice-Chancellor Rickard, acknowledging the Darumbal Nation and all Aboriginal peoples and nations on all the lands in which the University operates.

"And whilst that is this year's theme, I'd like to think that CQUniversity - especially through Nulloo Yumbah (the University's Indigenous Learning, Spirituality and Research Centre) - is addressing that mission every day in the education-based relationships we have with individual students, their families and the different communities from which they come,"  explained Professor Rickard.

Watching the flag-raising are from left Ros Dunphy (Enrolment & Promotions at Nulloo Yumbah) Robina Mann (Nulloo Yumbah Student Community Liasion Officer), Elder Ethel Speedy, Roger Hunt (CQUniversity Equity & Diversity Officer) and Vice-Chancellor John Rickard.

The Vice-Chancellor said the challenge presented in Australia's Review of Higher Education to address disadvantage in the community through education was an area that CQUniversity was championing but there was much that could be done to improve participation by Indigenous people.

This year, CQUniversity celebrated a milestone for its Tertiary Entry Program (for Indigenous Australians) - breaking the century milestone with more than 130 students enrolled in TEP throughout the country.

In addition, the University has begun a project to attract more Indigenous Australians to work at the University through its Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Employment & Career Development Strategy 2009-2012. LINK to the Indigenous Employment Strategy via the Employment Strategy TAB

"We live and operate in Central Queensland communities with significant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations and we want that reflected in the make-up of our staff," said the Vice Chancellor.

The ceremony in progress

The Vice-Chancellor encouraged staff to participate in NAIDOC events, including Rockhampton's NAIDOC Week March, from City Hall to the Riverside Gardens, scheduled for 9am (gathering from 8.30am) on Friday July 10.

NAIDOC has its roots in the emergence of Aboriginal groups in the 1920s which set out to increase awareness of the status and treatment of Indigenous Australians. Today, NAIDOC is a celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and a time to recognise the contributions of Indigenous Australians in many fields.

In 2002, Elder Ethel Speedy was presented a framed copy of the University's Reconciliation Statement and Painting. At the core of the Reconciliation statement is the University's commitment to redress disadvantage through education. LINK to the Reconciliation Statement via the Employment Strategy TAB