Indigenous Education Strategy - Issue 19

As part of the Northern Territory Government’s commitment to drive local decision making, the Department of Education is working to support families in remote Aboriginal communities to have a bigger say in the education and training of their children.

The two key projects driving this change are:

Local Engagement and Decision Making

Local Engagement and Decision Making will involve the establishment of Local Engagement and Decision Making Committees in over 50 remote communities. These committees will work closely with schools to ensure the decisions being made on a day to day basis better reflect the needs and wants of parents as well as the wider community.

Community-Led Schools

Community-Led Schools will empower and support a number of remote communities to establish formally recognised school decision making bodies and mechanisms so they can lead the running of their schools.

Co-Director of Community Engagement at the NT Department of Education Joe Brown believes this is an important first step in supporting Aboriginal communities to get more involved in school decisions.

“It is about giving Aboriginal parents and communities a much bigger say in the education and training of their children,” he said.

“For some communities it will be about the name of the school or the design of school uniforms but for others it will be about what students learn, how they learn it and the way the school itself reflects the community’s cultural values,” he said.

The department has commenced discussions with a number of interested communities about their involvement and will look to establish the first official Local Engagement and Decision Making Committee and the first Community Led School in 2019 following extensive community engagement.

Download Local Decision Making Brochure PDF (1.2 MB)