BALLARAT students are part of a push to have indigenous history a mandatory feature of Victorian secondary school curriculum.
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Schools and the Education Minister have been put on notice by the students at this year’s YMCA Youth Parliament.
Six members of a YMCA Youth Parliament team, called South East Koori Mob, tabled a Bill titled, ‘Mandatory Teaching of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander History’, which passed unanimously.
Youth Parliament takes place every year as an opportunity for the voices of passionate young people to be heard. More than 20 bills first tabled at Youth Parliament have gone on to influence legislation.
Ballarat Grammar student and team member Kalinda Palmer said young people were dedicated to having indigenous history and culture formally recognized in school curriculum.
"We all worked really hard in expressing our personal stories and the way we felt and seeing it pass showed that people want indigenous studies and education in their curriculum."
Motivated by the lack of education provided by schools on Australia’s history, the Bill called on schools to provide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history for all students in years 7 to 12.
Under current guidelines set by the Australian Victorian Education Learning Standards, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history is one of three cross-curriculum priorities that leave schools free to opt out of teaching the subject.
“Indigenous studies is something that has been absent in my life, it’s never been an option," Ms Palmer said.
"As young indigenous people we feel really passionate about it, in order to see some sort of change and drive for young indigenous people.
"People want to know about our lifestyles, people want to know about our culture," she said.
Also included in the Bill is a requirement for teachers to be properly trained in indigenous cultural and history aspects as part of their university and Diploma of Education courses.
The Bill will be passed to Youth Minister Jenny Mikakos at the conclusion of Youth Parliament.