On Close the Gap Day, we consider our role in bridging Australia’s equality gap

Trinity recognises that one of the key ways to improve the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is through educational opportunities. More than 10 per cent of our residents come from an Indigenous background and we are dedicated to supporting them through a range of initiatives, acknowledging that there are specific challenges faced by Indigenous Australians when it comes to accessing tertiary education.

Some of the things we do at Trinity College include:

• providing scholarships to high-achieving Indigenous secondary school students to allow them to attend our Young Leaders Program
• providing residential scholarships for University of Melbourne Indigenous students, which makes it possible for them to live on campus at Trinity College
• helping to design and teach the foundation year of the Bachelor of Arts (Extended) program in collaboration with the University of Melbourne
• supporting a group of staff and students to attend the annual Garma Festival in the Northern Territory
• employing a full-time Indigenous Support Officer to not only support our resident Indigenous students, but to also celebrate and facilitate understanding of Indigenous culture across the whole College
• running the biennial Indigenous Higher Education Conference
• recognising and supporting the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

We know that building a reconciled nation is a long and complex task, but we will try to play our part in helping bridge the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Together, we hope we can make a difference.

Read this year’s Closing the Gap Report here.