$5.4 million to help Indigenous boarding school students

The Australian Government will provide $5.4 million to extend the Indigenous Boarding Initiative throughout the 2015 and 2016 school years.

Minister for Education and Training, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP, said this funding will assist non-government boarding schools with large numbers of Indigenous boarding students from remote and very remote areas to meet the additional costs associated with boarding and educating these students.

“Non-government schools with more than 50 Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander boarding students – or 50 per cent or more – from remote or very remote areas are eligible to receive this funding,” Mr Pyne said.

In 2014, 21 schools and 1487 remote and very remote Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander boarding students benefited from the programme.

“The funding has enabled schools to deliver improved services to students and provide effective support to boost school attendance and engagement and that is why we have decided to extend it,” Mr Pyne said.

“Education opens up opportunities in a wide range of areas and this support will help ensure Indigenous young people from remote and very remote areas have access to the same opportunities as other Australian students.”

The Indigenous Boarding Initiative has achieved great success over the last 12 months, complementing the Australian Government’s Indigenous Advancement Strategy. A key priority of the strategy is Children and Schooling – which targets funding to disadvantaged students from remote areas to make sure they don’t miss out on a great education.

The initiative is just one part of the Australian Government’s commitment to improving Indigenous education outcomes