Curtin first university in Australia to launch a Reconciliation Action Plan

C159/08
28 May 2008
Curtin University of Technology is the first Australian university to launch a Reconciliation Action Plan.
Developed in association with Reconciliation Australia, the Plan sets out steps Curtin will take to continue to develop reconciliation and build relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.
As a leader in education and research, Curtin recognises its role in effecting change in areas of housing, health, education, training, employment, governance, social and communal relationships, and law and justice. The University is dedicated to promoting an understanding of Indigenous culture and history, implementing strategies to increase participation of Indigenous people in higher education, and continuing a commitment to fostering partnerships in Indigenous research and development.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Jeanette Hacket said she was proud of Curtin’s leadership in this area.
“The development and launch of the Reconciliation Action Plan is part of the University’s commitment to the reconciliation process of turning good intentions into measurable actions,” she said.
“Curtin’s Plan has been developed with measurable objectives, actions and targets which the University will be accountable for.
Director of Curtin’s Centre for Aboriginal Studies, Associate Professor Anita Lee Hong, hopes the launch of Curtin’s Reconciliation Action Plan will be a catalyst for other universities in Australia to do likewise.
“I would like challenge other universities in Australia to develop their own Plans,” she said.
“It is extremely important that universities in particular, as institutions of knowledge and learning, model ways to be more inclusive of Indigenous people and build bonds between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.”
The planning of the Reconciliation Action Plan began in 2007 when the University signed a statement outlining its commitment to develop a Plan. The signing of the Statement of Commitment also coincided with the 40th anniversary of the landmark 1967 referendum which gave Aboriginal people the right to be counted in the census.
This year marks another important event for the wider Curtin community, the tenth anniversary of Curtin’s original Statement of Reconciliation and Commitment which was signed on 18 March 1998.
Curtin’s Reconciliation Action Plan was launched by the Director of Reconciliation Australia, the Hon Fred Chaney AO at a function at the University on 27 May.
Note Editor/COS: Photos of the event are available for publication.
A copy of the plan can be found at http://planning.curtin.edu.au/strategic/plan.cfm
Contacts: Professor Jeanette Hacket, Vice-Chancellor, Curtin, (08) 9266 7001; Katie McGregor, PR Officer, Curtin, (08) 9266 4364, 0401 103 877, k.mcgregor@curtin.edu.au