Indigenous Languages in Education - Policy and Practice in Australia

Indigenous Australians have long been advocating for recognition of their languages, cultures and identities. They have sought the inclusion of their languages in schools to revitalize and maintain languages and cultural knowledge, and to take an active role in the education of their children. This paper provides an overview of Indigenous language programs and activities in education and looks to future directions and innovations that may strengthen languages in education, and in turn Australian languages. The paper argues that policy and practice for Indigenous language education interacts with policy and discourse for Indigenous languages, education outcomes and Indigenous policy more broadly. It identifies strengths and challenges for Indigenous languages, and examines national legislative frameworks, which would support Australia’s languages into the future, a goal Australia has set itself.