ALPA's Higher Education Hubs inspiring education and training in East Arnhem Land

Arnhem Land Progress Aboriginal (ALPA) Corporation runs a Regional University Centre (RUC) across three sites in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. This RUC focuses on providing education and training opportunities to local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in remote East Arnhem Land communities. ALPA’s upskilling of local people supports local business and industry and provides a raft of benefits to the individual students, their families and the wider community.

The Centre has a focus on supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and currently has 80 students across the sites. The Centre mainly supports students completing VET studies on a part-time basis. Most of the students are employed in local businesses and complete their study as part of their current job or for new employment opportunities. The most popular areas of study include health, education and retail, for example, many students are undertaking Aboriginal health worker training or teaching courses to develop their professional skills and progress their careers.

A key service offered by the Centres is one-on-one academic support, which involves intensive tutoring to develop language, literacy and numeracy skills. This support is carried out within air-conditioned rooms with computers, desks, books and stationery, internet access, printing and refreshments provided. Administrative support, pastoral care, and coordination of communication between employers, students and education institutions is also part of the support ALPA offers its students.

We are passionate about supporting Indigenous Australians to be able to access higher education on Country, instead of needing to leave their homes and families to undertake further study.

Ryan Buckley, Education and Training Manager, ALPA

ALPA’s centres have made significant impacts on their communities, especially in building aspiration for education and training. Families feel immense pride in having a relative study with ALPA, and as students complete their training, they inspire others to do the same. Local industries are benefitting as Yolngu staff gain more skills and capacity in their job through the supported study at the ALPA Centres.

The information in this article came from a case study created by Cox Inall Ridgeway (CIR) and URBIS presented in the Regional University Centres Evaluation Report for the Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE) in July 2021.