Supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in higher education: a yarn with ITAS tutors

The Indigenous Tutorial Assistance Scheme – Tertiary Tuition [ITAS] has provided individual and small group supplementary course content tuition to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university students since the 1990s. Although linked to increases in higher education participation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and providing opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander academic sector employment, the Federal government announced cessation of ITAS as at the end of 2015. Support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in higher education will now come via the Indigenous Advancement Strategy [IAS]. Recognising the urgency of documenting valuable community knowledge before it was diminished, this qualitative case study drew on the theoretical literature surrounding Indigenous research, education and government policy and policy review. Purposefully sampling ITAS tutors from the University of Newcastle’s Wollotuka Institute, four experienced ITAS tutors were invited to participate in a yarning circle. Perspectives were captured regarding the quality of relationships that support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in higher education. Situated within an Indigenous research paradigm, findings emerged from the student researcher’s reflexive Aboriginal lens and the iterative process of content analysis and qualitative data analysis activities. Analysis revealed that during times of policy and funding changeover, transparency and the provision of community space for open discussion should be made available to all stakeholders. It would appear that ethical and equitable frameworks of support would accommodate the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, particularly those at the polar ends of the academic continuum. The creation of a new socially just discourse would privilege Indigenous knowledges of how to navigate and succeed at the university cultural interface along with the relationships that support this goal.