Indigenous Education Strategies for Government Schools
Overview
The Wannik strategy was launched in February 2008 as the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development's (DEECD) strategy to overcome poor educational outcomes for Koorie students. The aim of the strategy is to improve education outcomes for Koorie students by changing the culture and mindset of the government school system, implementing structural reforms, and making better use of mainstream efforts and programs.
The Wannik strategy was allocated $30.8 million over five years.
The objective of the audit was to determine the effectiveness of DEECD's implementation of the Wannik strategy and whether it is achieving its aim.
The audit concluded that at the beginning of the fourth year DEECD cannot demonstrate whether the Wannik strategy is on track to improve education outcomes for Koorie students. DEECD has been progressively implementing a range of priority actions but, because there are no targets and milestones, it is unclear whether progress is in line with DEECD's expectations. Also, it is not evident that risks to the strategy's implementation are being adequately managed.
Unless these issues are addressed, achieving the systemic reforms necessary to improve and sustain education outcomes for Koorie students is not likely.