2025 Return to Country Program Delivery
The 2025 Return to Country Program was a collaborative effort from the University of Melbourne, Monash University and Deadly Coders to deliver a week-long STEM engagement program to local primary schools and high schools in Northam and surrounding communities.
2025 Program Delivery
In 2025, the Return to Country Program took place in Northam, Western Australia on Noongar Country between 21 July to 25 July 2025. A delegation of Indigenous staff and students from the University of Melbourne, Monash University and Murdoch University travelled to the region to deliver STEM workshops in local primary and secondary schools in collaboration with Deadly Coders, an Indigenous owned not-for-profit focused on igniting learning and career pathways in STEM for young Indigenous students.
The delegation was led by Professor Chris Lawrence, a proud Wadjak/Ballardong man, leading Aboriginal health and wellbeing researcher, and Associate Dean (Indigenous) at Monash University’s Faculty of Information Technology. Professor Lawrence also leads the National Indigenous Space Academy (NISA), which supports First Nations students to engage with the global space industry.
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 2025 Return to Country Oration was recorded with the permission of our distinguished guests. To view the event, please visit our oration page.
