Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education

Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education was established by the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education Act 1999 as '. . . an educational institution for the tertiary education of Indigenous people of Australia and the provision of other educational and training programs and courses, and facilities and resources for research and study, and for related purposes.

A central task of the Institute is the provision of tertiary education and training programs which engage students in the development of appropriate responses to issues of cultural survival, maintenance, renewal and transformation, within the context of the national and international social, political and economic order.

INSTITUTE PRINCIPLES: BOTH WAYS and SELF DETERMINATION
Two principles underpin all aspects of the Institute's life. First, cultural interaction and cross-cultural learning follow a 'both ways' philosophy which enables exploration of Indigenous Australian traditions of knowledge and Western academic disciplinary positions and cultural contexts. Second, through its work and its courses, Batchelor Institute affirms the aspiration to self-determination and employment held by Indigenous Australians.

 

All Batchelor Institute programs are supported by appropriate resources and teaching methodologies; and close links between Batchelor Institute and the Indigenous communities it serves have led to the development of a 'mixed mode' form of conducting most courses. This 'mixed mode' for course delivery combines community-based study and research, field study and supervised work experience with short, intensive residential workshops at a number of sites, including Batchelor and other regional locations. This model also responds to the lack of infrastructure, funding and staffing resources in many of the Northern Territory's remote communities.

OUR BEGINNINGS
Batchelor Institute began in the mid 1960s on the outskirts of Darwin as a small annexe of Kormilda College—then a government boarding school for Aboriginal students. The Batchelor annexe provided short programs for Aboriginal teacher aides and assistants in community schools.

From 1974 these programs were conducted at Batchelor, about 100 km south of Darwin, and in 1982 the institution was named Batchelor College, moving to its present site in the town. In 1988 the Commonwealth Government recognised Batchelor College as a Higher Education institution. A second campus was established in Alice Springs in 1990, reflecting the educational needs of Aboriginal people in Central Australia. Later that year, annexes were opened in Darwin, Nhulunbuy, Katherine and Tennant Creek.

An independent evaluation, carried out by a team from the University of Western Sydney in 1994, recommended that the College move towards independent university status. As a first step in this direction, the College was granted agency status within the Northern Territory public sector on 1 April 1995. This was followed on 1 July 1999 by the establishment of the Institute, with ownership and governance passing to the Batchelor Institute Council.

BATCHELOR INSTITUTE STRATEGIC PLAN
Batchelor Institute serves the interests of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in education and training and, in so doing, contributes to the cultural, social and economic development of Australia.

INSTITUTE DELIVERY LOCATIONS
The Institute will deliver in at least 22 locations across the Northern Territory in 2010.

2006 Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) Audit Report on Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education: http://www.auqa.edu.au/qualityaudit/osai/

Progress Report on the response to the AUQA Audit of Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education ~ February 2008

THE INSTITUTE'S ANNUAL REPORT
The Council of the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education is proud of the tertiary education and skills provided to Indigenous students in a way that respects and values the traditions of the people whose ancestors lived in this land for thousands of years before the arrival of the first Europeans....Please access 2009 Annual report under Future Student.