Leaders and independent, community-controlled groups have demonstrated longstanding alliances, advocacy and engagement with the education and training sectors. As a collective, they have unparalleled experience and cultural expertise in working to overcome the vast range of complex issues, opportunities and challenges contributing to successful education and training outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities.

For more than 40 years Indigenous education consultative groups have shared their cultural and educational knowledge through advocating on local state and national education and training committees, consulting with local communities and undertaking major education programs and projects to support more culturally responsive Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education outcomes.

NATSIEC is a national agency to learn from past successes, mistakes and evidence to progress the legacy of our past education warriors and recommit to the goals of the original National Aboriginal Education Policy (NAEP) of the 1980s for more effective and equitable education systems and institutions.

A principle of the NAEP is nothing for us without us; a fundamental truth underscored by recent national education reviews reinforcing the undisputed evidence that better life outcomes are achieved by having a genuine say in the design and delivery of policies, programs and services that affect us.

We celebrate the strength, resilience and diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and sovereignty, and strive to ensure that Indigenous students see their culture, language and identity reflected throughout their learning journey.

There is much unfinished business to achieve genuine equality of education outcomes for our people.

We call on all educators, education administrators and community leaders to re-commit to community-informed decision-making, improved program co-design and delivery, and shared accountability to achieve the longstanding goals and outcomes of better and fairer Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education in our country.