This is an edited version of the speech given by Professor Mick Dodson AM at the launch of ‘Keeping up’ and ‘How Young People are Faring’ on April 30.

The reports that Reconciliation Australia and the Dusseldorp Skills Forum are launching today are aiming at bringing attention to the gaps in engagement in study and work for Indigenous young people and sharing examples of success in closing these gaps.

I decided to use some of my exposure as Australian of the Year this year to talk and learn about what we are and aren’t doing in this country to help all young people – regardless of where they are born and the colour of their skin – get access to the education resources and support they need. The truth right now is, as these reports tell us, we’re failing to provide equitable access and resources. Young Indigenous Australians, arguably in the most need, are not being served as they should in the most critical area of their lives. As I said at the time and have talked about since – this is a human rights issue.

You might know Australia has just announced its support for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It was a proud day for me and the countless others who spent a long time working to capture the rights all nations should aspire to support.

Central to the Declaration are rights around Indigenous education. Article 21, for example states “Indigenous peoples have the right, without discrimination, to the improvement of their economic and social conditions, including, inter alia, in the areas of education, employment vocational training and retraining.” While I think it’s important to say no rights trump others, support for Indigenous peoples’ rights to a proper, culturally appropriate education is the number 1 ingredient in improving economic and social conditions. These aren’t special rights; education is the support beam for economic and social advancement for all peoples in all nations.

The cost of failing to properly provide for this human right is pretty high and it’s not just counted in jobs and dollars. I recently attended a gathering to talk about adult literacy, where we talked about the impact poor literacy has on health and the capacity for people to engage fully in society. The basic message is this – if we don’t close these education gaps, we have no hope of closing the overall life expectancy gap.

Success is possible. We know from the examples included in the work being presented here today, and the work of many others in this field that the ingredients for success are out there. I’m seeing examples of it everywhere. Like success in other areas – the formula is often very simple.

When education, training and employment initiatives work, they work because they cater to the capabilities and aspirations of their most important stakeholders – young people. Closing the gaps for Indigenous young people doesn’t mean making everyone the same and asking young people to all have the same outcomes. Good training and education services should recognise and support the diverse aspirations of individual young people, regardless of where they go to school.

We’ve got a list here in this “Keeping Up” report of some of the things that have been found to work in narrowing the gaps in education and work for Indigenous young people. It’s no surprise that they’re pretty much the same in education as they are in other areas where we’re working to close the gaps; genuine, respectful partnerships, local Indigenous input in designing programs, understanding and recognising the importance of culture and long term funding.

When I say these things are simple I don’t mean to imply that they’re easy, or that success is easy to achieve. That would be unfair to the many committed people who spend their lives working for small improvements in this area. The teachers who put remarkable levels of effort into getting one child to stay one more year, one more week, one more day in school. The parents who, in spite of extreme poverty, manage to get their kids dressed and fed and at school on time. The child who finishes year 12 in a community where no one before has done so. No, this isn’t easy.

But we should resist the urge to search for complex solutions and recognise that we do know what works, we just have to commit to it for the long haul with all the resources and effort we can muster. These are the responsibilities that go hand in glove with the rights. These kids have the right to equitable, appropriate and properly resourced education and training. All of us, governments, communities, businesses have the responsibility to ensure that right is supported.

Thank you.

Professor Mick Dodson