During a recent five-day visit to Mer (Murray) and Thursday Islands off the tip of Queensland’s Cape York, Mr Shepherd learned that once children finish primary school, their options are limited.

“The primary school on Mer Island is a wonderful facility but there’s no high school so, at age 11 or 12, they have to leave their home and family to board on Thursday Island or at a mainland secondary college,” Mr Shepherd said.

“And it can be difficult to find student accommodation. One Mer Island mother told us that there are Year 7-aged children still waiting for places eight months after the school year started.

That mother dreams of creating a pathway from prep to school to training and employment so children and young adults do not fall through the cracks of the education system.

Mr Shepherd travelled to the islands as part of a Yarning Up outreach tour for education and corporate leaders, where they experienced the lifestyle, culture and the challenges of isolation and how they impact the region’s young.

The five-day itinerary included time spent in the classrooms of Tagai State College’s Mer Island campus, visiting a local home to prepare food for a community feast, and meetings with Thursday Island business operators, health workers and educators.

“What really stood out for me was that – regardless of the isolation and the differences in culture, language and lifestyle – these parents have the same aspirations for their children as the parents I meet every day at Ballarat Clarendon College,” Mr Shepherd said.

“They want their children to have a fulfilling, successful, happy life; to grow up to be whatever they want to be; to realise their dreams – even if they don’t yet know what those dreams might be. 

“The challenge is that these children don’t have access to the same services and opportunities that our children take for granted – even here in a rural area.”