STEM Aboriginal Learner Congress

The Hon. I. PNEVMATIKOS (14:28): My question is to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. Will the minister inform the council on the STEM Aboriginal Learner Congress held in Adelaide in August?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:28): I thank the honourable member for her question in relation to Aboriginal affairs and her interest in this area. Over 18 and 19 August—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Sorry, sir; it's a question about Aboriginal—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: If the opposition are not interested in Aboriginal students in this state, that's—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The honourable Leader of the Opposition, order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: On 18 and 19 August this year, the STEM Aboriginal Learner Congress was held in Adelaide at the Adelaide Convention Centre. Hosted by young Aboriginal STEM thinkers of South Australia, this is the biggest STEM event and is the only one of its kind for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in Australia. The congress aims to engage young Aboriginal learners between the ages of 10 and 15 with science, technology, engineering and maths but also provide industry experiences and inspire students to realise their aspirations within the STEM space.

The congress theme this year was Cultural Innovators and was developed by nine schools across South Australia, consisting of Ceduna Area School, Port Lincoln Primary School, Kaurna Plains School, Salisbury High School, Loxton High School, Woodville High School, Playford International College, Wirreanda Secondary and Port Augusta Secondary School. This theme is particularly fitting when you consider that it honours the deep STEM knowledge within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture but also embraces the next generation of thinkers.

For generations, Aboriginal people have incorporated, but not limited to, sophisticated knowledges and practices pertaining to areas in the field such as seasons, meteorology, astrology, astronomy, bush food, medicine and healing, natural resource management, and the use of physics and chemistry behind the design, production and use of tools, instruments and inventions. Aboriginal STEM practices have shown amazing resilience over time in the face of their dismissal. Aboriginal STEM practices are now recognised and respected as being integral to solutions to contemporary issues today, such as food security and climate change.

Over the two days, students were able to experience and participate in 30 different workshops, which included sticky spinifex resin, where students learned about how to use spinifex resin as an adhesive for making tools and waterproofing objects; ecological plant systems, which focused on different plants and how Aboriginal people used plants ecologically; natural fish traps, with students learning about the natural fish traps and knowledge of elders to feed groups; and augmented reality, where students discovered how to harness technology and innovation to shape technological visions and connectedness with culture.

The congress also included keynote speeches from prominent Aboriginal people within the STEM fields, such as Corey Tutt, Bianca Isaacson, Mikaela Jade and Gullara McInnes. In my capacity as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs I was very fortunate to be able to welcome and open the second day of the congress, and it was heartening to see so many young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in the room, as I understand there were over 650 students from 165 different schools.

I would like to formally congratulate all who were involved in the planning and the delivery of the event. From the feedback I have received, in addition to the conversations I have had, it was a fantastic event and I look forward to keeping an eye out for the progress of it in the future.