Aboriginal Power Cup

The Hon. M. EL DANNAWI (14:44): My question is to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. Will the minister inform the council about the success of the 2024 Aboriginal Power Cup?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:44): I thank the honourable member for her question. The Power Cup is an exceptional event each year for Aboriginal school students in South Australia and I could not be more proud and excited to see another successful year of the program completed.

The Aboriginal Power Cup is an education-based program, with an annual football carnival at the end of it, which explores and embraces Aboriginal culture and is designed to address a number of critical Closing the Gap targets, including education, health, wellbeing and employment. To be eligible to attend the program, which coincides with the AFL's Sir Doug Nicholls Round, students must meet the minimum 80 per cent attendance requirement and perform strongly in the academic and behavioural components of the program.

The culmination, a two-day carnival, sees hundreds of students gather in Adelaide from right across the state. For the first time this year, students from Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Wadeye and the Yipirinya School in Alice Springs joined the program from the Northern Territory. The carnival culminates in a grand final, which this year was played as the curtain-raiser for the Port Adelaide versus Carlton match last Thursday night, as well as a cultural dance performed just before the bounce where students from the program joined in a moving performance in front of about 40,000 spectators.

The Attorney-General's Department have been proud supporters of the program since its inception some 17 or so years ago. It was a great pleasure joining students and supporters to launch the program at Alberton Oval on day one, along with all the excitement that culminated in the awards presentation on Thursday night. A number of awards were presented to students, including for the best design of the jumper, polo shirt and banner, as well as for curriculum excellence and road safety campaign design, and football awards for the students with the best teamwork and overall performance on the field. Students were inspired and entertained by musical performances as well as important speeches and talks, particularly from the education department.

I want to congratulate Power Community Limited for organising another stellar Aboriginal Power Cup and I look forward to informing the chamber of its success next year.