The national project which is the subject of this report is directed towards strengthening the quality of Indigenous languages programmes in schools. The purpose of the project is to provide a snapshot of the current national situation in Indigenous languages education in Australian schools.
The target groups to benefit from the Project are:
teachers and speakers of Indigenous languages who are delivering programmes in Australian schools and those wishing to deliver such programmes;
Indigenous and school communities wishing to introduce, improve or expand the delivery of Indigenous languages programmes in their schools; and
policy makers and programme officers from State and Territory education jurisdictions wishing to introduce, improve or expand the delivery of Indigenous languages programmes in their schools.
The (former) Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) contracted the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to undertake the project. It is one of several national projects funded through the Australian Government’s School Languages Programme (SLP). These national projects support the implementation of the National Statement and Plan for Languages Education in Australian Schools 2005-08, developed through the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA). The National Statement and Plan was endorsed by all Ministers of Education in March 2005.
The National Indigenous Language Survey Report 2005
The National Indigenous Languages Survey (NILS) Report 2005 provides a summary and analysis of the results from a survey of Indigenous languages vitality status and resources that was carried out in 2004.
Databases of NILS responses are available from the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), subject to NILS confidentiality provisions. AIATSIS contact details are provided at the end of this Executive Summary
