Tauondi Aboriginal Community College

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (15:03): My question is to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. Will the minister inform the council on Tauondi's 50^th year anniversary event?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:03): I thank the honourable member for his question. I will be most pleased to inform the chamber about Tauondi College's 50^th anniversary. It was a great pleasure to attend the event celebrating the 50^th anniversary of Tauondi Aboriginal College that occurred on Saturday.

Tauondi College has had a significant impact on the lives of many Aboriginal people and Aboriginal communities right across our state and has long played a role in providing education, employment and a safe space for Aboriginal people. Tauondi was born in the same year as me, 1973, and has become a home for many Aboriginal people. It is not only a place of learning, it is a cornerstone of empowerment, a hub of cultural preservation and a testament to the resilience of Aboriginal people in this state.

For five decades now, Tauondi has been instrumental in addressing some of the disparities that have historically affected Aboriginal communities through education. By offering a culturally safe and supportive environment, the college has been a catalyst for breaking down barriers and opening doors to opportunities that may have otherwise been firmly shut. Many know that the importance of Tauondi extends beyond the academic realms. It serves as a meeting place for community engagement and has been a pioneer in community initiatives, a space where cultural traditions are actively promoted through education.

That is one of the reasons so many people in the Aboriginal community, myself included, were extremely disappointed a few years ago when the previous government completely cut the recurrent funding for Tauondi College, knowing the significant history and the benefit it has provided for the Aboriginal community.

I am very proud to be part of a government that announced just in the last budget $5.6 million in investment in Tauondi College to ensure its critical role into the future. It will ensure programs like its language revitalisation program, through which Tauondi College has developed Certificate II and III in Learning an Endangered Language and Certificate IV in Teaching an Endangered Language, can continue. It is quite a remarkable achievement.

Tauondi has worked with various language groups, including Kaurna and Ngarrindjeri, in developing courses and in the Certificate IV in Teaching an Endangered Language. We are now seeing Aboriginal people from right across Australia coming to Tauondi College to get these qualifications to teach their endangered languages from all over the nation.

As I have said, Tauondi College is more than just a centre for academic achievement and learning. It is a safe space for Aboriginal people. For example, under the previous Weatherill Labor government when we were developing a Stolen Generations Reparation Scheme, it was Tauondi College where meetings were held: that safe space for Aboriginal people. Just in this term of government, when we were developing an antiracism strategy within government, it was Tauondi College where meetings were held with Aboriginal people. It is a safe space for Aboriginal people and a necessary space for Aboriginal people.

I am very pleased that we have reinstated funding to see Tauondi go into the future and see Tauondi thrive. I wish to congratulate Tadashi, the longstanding CEO of Tauondi, who has kept the place running, in my experience, over many years; the current head of the board, Brenz Saunders, who gave very powerful speeches on Saturday night at the celebration of 50 years; and of course its most recent chair, Professor Peter Buckskin, who has dedicated his life to the education of his Aboriginal people.