Aboriginal university enrolments grow 24 per cent

THE growth rate in Aboriginal university enrolments is almost double that of the overall population, finds a government report.

THE growth rate in Aboriginal university enrolments is almost double that of the overall population, finds a federal government report to be released today.

The 2011 figures show that after languishing for most of the past decade, indigenous student numbers have ballooned in the wake of a higher education review that called for more university take-up by disadvantaged groups.

The numbers grew 24 per cent between 2008 and 2011, after rising 10 per cent over the previous seven years. Indigenous student numbers rose by 6.6 per cent last year compared to overall domestic growth of 3.6 per cent.

The number of indigenous vocational students also rose slightly faster than the overall population.

However, this falls a long way short of closing the gap. Indigenous people comprise 1.3 per cent of university students but make up 2.5 per cent of the population.

Boni Robertson, indigenous policy professor at Queensland's Griffith University, attributed the increase to support programs at universities and initiatives such as elders-in-residence. She said Griffith had just established the first council of elders in an Australian university.

Professor Robertson also credited universities for embracing reconciliation by appointing Aborigines and Torres Strait islanders as professors and pro vice-chancellors. But she stressed the importance of support programs to ensure that indigenous students completed their courses. "Getting them in is a little bit different to keeping them there and getting them out again," she said.

Second year student Blake Tatafu had planned to go to university ever since accompanying his mother to classes when she was a mature-age student at the University of Western Sydney.

"My family always said you'll never get a good job unless you go to university," said the 19-year-old doing a community and social development degree at UWS.

Mr Tatafu was seeing increasing numbers of his indigenous peers at university, particularly this year. They had been inspired by friends already at university, and attracted by the supportive reputation of UWS's indigenous centre of education.

The latest figures suggest that while higher education has seen rapid growth under the demand-driven system, which allows universities to enrol as many eligible students as they can, the increase has been elevated among disadvantaged groups. Regional student numbers grew by 4 per cent last year and the number of socio-economically disadvantaged students rose by 5.4 per cent.

The government said it was on track to exceed its target of socio-economically disadvantaged students of 20 per cent of the overall student body, rising to 16.8 per cent last year.