Education in Torres Strait is at a crossroad. On the one hand changes are about to occur to its organisation. On the other hand crucial inroads are being made into community life by that process of education.

I have lived in Torres Strait. I know some of the fears, hopes and disillusionment of many Torres Strait Islanders. I want to share some of my insights into your situation. When I left Thursday Island in 1972, it was with sadness and with a determination to find out how to better teach the young people of the Torres Strait. I would like to share one set of my findings with you. In particular, I would like to share the experiences of a small American Indian community with you. In many ways their story is like yours. Some of their lessons may help you in these days of rapid changes.

Within the North-west Aboriginal reserve of South Australia a traditional system of tribal Aboriginal culture is currently maintained and reproduced. The observable culture of the Aboriginal people of this region retains distinct traditional elements and a life-style very different from that of the dominant white Australian society. Within this socio-cultural setting, schools which have been operational in some form since the establishment of the settlements face a unique challenge. Unfortunately, the challenge has, in most cases, not been successfully met, since the lack of success of Aboriginal students in the school situation is a damning indictment of the introduced Western system of schooling. Success is measured by the achievement of the set goals of the school, but frequently these reflect a white Australian value system.

A Human Resource Development Program is badly needed for Aboriginal schools - a program that is going to -

• • cater for all groups of people connected with the school;

• • allow for real and consistent participant decision making about priorities and programs;

• • be developmental in its structure.

I propose the following model as a program that can achieve more fully Human Resource Development than is currently happening.

Lake Mungo, in New South Wales, is the home of the first known people in this country. Here, the oldest known evidence of Aboriginal people in Australia has been found. Because of its importance, it is a site which everyone should know about. To give us a feeling for Lake Mungo, Billy Reid, the illustrator of The Aboriginal Health Worker and The Aboriginal Child at School, came with me on a trip. We travelled west to the Darling River (whose Aboriginal name is Calewatta), and then south-east to Lake Mungo itself. Billy made wonderful drawings to represent the deeds and everyday life of those people. This can be reconstructed from the fossil evidence found at Lake Mungo. He has also drawn some scenes of life along the banks of the Calewatta - the river which is Billy’s own home. He hails from Bourke.

This paper includes a short history of Aboriginal women in Australia from about the turn of the century. This has been made possible by the writings of such women. Most non-Aboriginal women have been and are ignorant of this history. They need to understand this past in order to come to terms with it. Aboriginal women are also not aware of how misinformed non-Aboriginal women are of the role of Aboriginal women in their own society. An extensive dialogue is needed to develop the mutual understanding necessary for the construction of a peaceful and just post-colonial Australia.