In the context of a stark discrepancy in the educational outcomes of Aboriginal Australians compared to non-Aboriginal Australians, this article aims to contribute the voices of rural Aboriginal high school students to the discourse. This article utilises an appreciative enquiry approach to analyse the opinions and aspirations of 12 Aboriginal high school students in a South Australian regional centre. Drawing on student perspectives from semi-structured interviews, this article contributes to and contextualises the growing body of literature regarding educational aspirations. It demonstrates how rurality influences a complex system of intrinsic attributes, relationship networks and contextual factors. It offers an important counterpoint to discourses surrounding academic disadvantage and highlights the lived experience of rural Aboriginal Australians.

In the journal article Did DI do it? The impact of a programme designed to improve literacy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in remote schools, Guenther and Osborne (2020) compare schoolwide NAPLAN reading scale scores for 25 Very Remote Indigenous schools implementing Direct Instruction through the Flexible Literacy for Remote Primary Schools Program (‘Flexible Literacy’ or ‘the program’) with those for 118 Very Remote Indigenous schools not involved with the program, to assert the program has not improved literacy outcomes. Good to Great Schools Australia (GGSA) undertook an analysis of the same school data for Reading, Writing, Spelling and Grammar and Punctuation scores. Our findings contradict theirs. In all areas, schools participating in the program show significant growth compared with all Australian and all Very Remote Indigenous schools. In Reading, schools involved in the program from 2015 to 2017 averaged 124% growth, while the average growth for comparable ages was 19 and 34% for Australian and Very Remote Indigenous schools, respectively. In Grammar and Punctuation schools involved in the program in the same period grew 180%, whilst growth for Australian schools was 15%, and for Very Remote Indigenous schools, 28%. These contrasting results illustrate the importance of evaluating growth to assess the impact of educational programs, rather than achievement alone, particularly in the case of Very Remote Indigenous schools where achievement levels are far below Australian grade levels. Guenther and Osborne's comparison of achievement across schools rather than measuring growth within schools obscures real gains and is misleading.

Despite the continued investment in Indigenous support networks and dedicated education units within universities, levels of key performance indicators for Indigenous students—access, participation, success and completion (attainment)—remain below that of the overall domestic student population in most institutions. It remains important to determine what works to achieve Indigenous student success in higher education. This paper proposes that such methods have an integral role to play in providing a holistic view of Indigenous participation and success at university, and are particularly useful in the development and evaluation of strategies and programs. This project found no quantitative correlation between financial investment and success rate for Indigenous students. A negative correlation between access rate and success rate suggests that factors other than those that encourage participation are important in supporting successful outcomes. Those universities that have high success rates have a suite of programs to support Indigenous students, but it is not immediately clear which of these strategies and programs may be most effective to facilitate Indigenous student success rates. In this discussion, we suggest that a multi-layered determinants model is a useful way to conceptualise the many factors that may impact on student success, and how they might intersect.

Increasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in higher education can play a critical role in transforming lives and is the trajectory to closing the gap and reducing disadvantage. Despite recent progress, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples remain significantly under-represented in higher education. Poor retention and high attrition rates of these students come at significant financial cost for the individual, community, university and government. Wirltu Yarlu, the Indigenous Education Unit at the University of Adelaide has reviewed the role student support services play in improving retention and completion rates, with an aim to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student retention and completion. The newly developed Student Success Strategy is an innovative approach to student support that aims to identify and respond to individual student needs in a more effective and efficient manner. The model encompasses a self-assessment tool designed to measure progress across several domains. Self-assessments are used to inform student specific support needs which in turn enable support staff to personalise future interventions for each student and respond accordingly in an attempt to reduce and prevent student attrition.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples remain significantly under-represented in higher education systems. There are significant disparities in university completion rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students compared with their non-Indigenous counterparts. The poor-retention and high-attrition rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students come at significant financial and personal cost for the individual, families, community, universities and governments. Existing evidence in relation to attrition has identified complex and multifaceted reasons including ill health, family and community responsibilities, financial difficulties, lack of social support, academic disadvantage and issues surrounding personal well-being. The current study aimed to add to evidence of the academic, financial, social support and well-being factors affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student's decision to continue or withdraw from their university studies. Contrary to expectation, students' decision to withdraw was not related to academic and social factors. It was found that students between 22 and 25 years old strongly agreed they were likely to withdraw from studies. There was a significant association between withdrawal and type of enrolment. This study provided important insights into the factors that contribute to a students' decision to withdraw from their university studies, with implications for future educational interventions.

In meeting the social and emotional learning (SEL) needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, the capacities of school staff are critical. There is very limited evidence for relevant capacity development initiatives. This evaluation reports a multicomponent SEL training intervention delivered to staff of an Australian education service that operates independently of any particular school to assist with the transitions of students from remote communities to boarding schools. A participatory action research (PAR) approach was implemented over 13-months with 21 staff participants. Results from a pre-, mid- and six months post-training survey and staff interviews were analysed and fed back through reflective group discussions. The training was associated with improved staff attitudes to mental health and skills to support student wellbeing. Sixteen participants received a tertiary qualification. Despite ‘working in challenging environments’, staff were ‘dedicated to help’ students, and ‘acknowledged the need for change’ to better support student wellbeing. However, given the service's brokering role between families and schools, fewer staff members reported feeling empowered to influence issues in their workplace. The evaluation demonstrated the value of SEL training for education staff and potential utility for school teachers and boarding staff who have direct duty of care for Indigenous students. The multicomponent training described in this study would need to be condensed for school settings.