2024 Return to Country Program Delivery
The inaugural Return to Country Program saw Associate Professor Joseph West lead a delegation of Indigenous staff and students back to his home community to deliver activities aimed at enhancing access to STEM pathways for local primary and secondary school students.
2024 Program Delivery
In 2024, the inaugural Return to Country Program sees a group of FEIT Indigenous staff and students travel to Bourke, NSW and visit the surrounding region. The delegation is led by the Faculty’s first Associate Dean, Indigenous - Dr Joseph West. Dr West is a Murawarri Engineer from the Culgoa River region in regional New South Wales and a Fulbright Scholar in the School of Computing and Information Systems at the University of Melbourne.
Dr West leads the delegation back to his home community, and through a series of STEM outreach activities, the group connects with primary and secondary school students, teachers, Elders, parents and other community leaders with the aim of enhancing access and pathways to STEM tertiary education.
Return to Country Oration
As a key part of the program, the Return to Country Oration aims to help foster a national dialogue regarding access and pathways to STEM higher education for students in regional and rural communities.
The event serves as a forum for highlighting the participation of Indigenous students in engineering and acknowledging the obstacles they face when approaching tertiary education. The Oration represents an opportunity to bring together influential figures from the local community to participate in dialogue regarding higher education and its importance.
The theme for the inaugural Oration centres on ‘Indigenous participation in Engineering and Information Technology at university’.
The 2024 Return to Country Oration was recorded with the permission of our distinguished guests. To view the event, please visit our oration page.
2024 Return to Country Oration
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James Moore, accompanied by Maranguka Dancers at the Return to Country Oration -
Views from the Back O’Bourke Information and Exhibition Centre at the Return to Country Program -
Guests gather to watch James Moore, accompanied by Maranguka Dancers at the Return to Country Oration -
Back O’Bourke Information and Exhibition Centre - Return to Country Program -
Guests listen to panel members at the Return to Country Oration -
Guests listen to panel members at the Return to Country Oration -
UoM Staff and Students travel from Melbourne, VIC to Bourke, NSW -
UoM Staff and Students visit the Brewarrina Aboriginal Cultural Museum -
Entrance to the Brewarrina Aboriginal Cultural Museum -
Bradley Hardy guides UoM guests through the Brewarrina Aboriginal Cultural Museum -
Bradley Hardy guides UoM guests through the Brewarrina Aboriginal Cultural Museum -
Banks of the Darling River, Bourke NSW
