Wesfarmers donates $5m to ANU’s Kambri scholarship program

Wesfarmers has given $5m to the ANU’s Kambri scholarship program which offers educational opportunity to indigenous students.

Hunter Culbong, a Noongar man, is a Kambri Scholar at the Australian National University. Photo: Jamie Kidston

Wesfarmers has made a $5m donation to the Australian National University’s Kambri scholarship program that aims to train the next generation of Australia’s Indigenous leaders.

Wesfarmers chief executive Rob Scott said the Kambri program, which began in 2019, had made excellent education more accessible for talented Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. He said by helping fund the program Wesfarmers was supporting “practical measures that will impact and deliver benefits for Indigenous communities”.

The ANU matches each donation made, which means the Wesfarmers gift adds $10m to the endowment that is now about 40 per cent towards its $50m target. At its current levels the university can accepteight or nine new Kambri scholars each year.

ANU chancellor Julie Bishop thanked Wesfarmers for the gift.

“We hope that Kambri Scholars take what they have learned at ANU and make significant contributions to their communities, across the nation and beyond,” Ms Bishop said.

“Education is key to equality. A university degree can have a profoundly positive impact on individuals, their families and their communities.

“The Kambri Scholars Program is helping to create the next generation of Australia’s Indigenous leaders, setting them up for success at university and in their future careers.”

The scholarship is awarded to Indigenous undergraduate students and funds them to the value of $30,000 annually, covering expenses such as accommodation, a living stipend, academic and pastoral support, and trips home.

So far, 56 Kambri scholarships have been awarded, doubling the number of Indigenous undergraduate students commencing at ANU.

Hunter Culbong, a Noongar man who is the first graduate of the Kambri program and is now doing a PhD in criminology at ANU, said the scholarship was the reason he came to the university.

“The best aspect of the scholarship is that it’s holistic and tailored towards the students’ needs, meaning that they have targeted assistance that’s specified for them,” he said.

As well as financial and academic support, it provided social opportunities with other students, and emotional support. “I’ve had a range of different experiences and opportunities throughout the university and beyond because the scholarship has allowed me to,” Mr Culbong said.