2018 Indigenous Education Statement

Enrolments (Access)

1.1    Strategies to improve access

“The University of New England respects and acknowledges that its people, programmes and facilities are built on land, and surrounded by a sense of belonging, both ancient and contemporary, of the world's oldest living culture. In doing so, UNE values and respects Indigenous knowledge systems as a vital part of the knowledge capital of Australia.

UNE Acknowledgement of Country, UNE Strategic Plan 2016-2020.

The University of New England (UNE) has a long and sustained record of actively working to improve higher education and employment outcomes for Indigenous Australians. The Oorala Aboriginal Centre, founded at UNE more than 30 years ago is both a reflection of UNE’s long-term commitment to Indigenous higher education, and an integral part of the continuing strategic and functional efforts of the University to improve the access to - and outcomes for - Indigenous students in higher education. The University is encouraged by its continuing year– on – year ability to attract and increase the number of Indigenous students that enrol at UNE (See Section1.5). A sustained whole of University commitment to the retention of students and their successful completion remains a focus of ongoing improvement. This commitment to improving higher education outcomes for Indigenous Australians is embedded in the current UNE Strategic Plan 2016- 2020. In conjunction, the Oorala Strategic Directions Paper 2016-2020 and corresponding Oorala Operation Plan 2018- 2020 provide the functional strategy and implementation planning for Accelerating Aboriginal Success at UNE. The Oorala Aboriginal Centre’s Operation Plan 2018-2020 includes proposed actions that align with the following key objectives of the Centre:

• Promote a “whole-of-university” approach to Aboriginal Education, Employment and Research;
• Implement online and on-campus Aboriginal Student Engagement best practice in higher education;
• Develop innovative systems that support accelerating Aboriginal student success;
• Expand Aboriginal Teaching & Learning opportunities throughout Oorala and UNE; and
• Improve Aboriginal education pathways to UNE.

In late 2018, the University’s commitment to making UNE a leader in the education of Indigenous Australians was reinforced by the articulation of a bold 2025 Vision in which the aim is to have an Indigenous staff and student population that is on parity with the local Aboriginal population of the New England Region. The Oorala Aboriginal Centre will continue to play a vital role as UNE aspires to continuous improvement in its support of Indigenous students and staff in Higher Education.

The current Faculties of the University are:

• Faculty of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences and Education (HASSE). This comprises two Schools – The School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences and the School of Education.
• Faculty of Science, Agriculture, Business, and Law. (SABL). This comprises four Schools – The School of Environmental and Rural Science, the School of Science and Technology, the UNE Business School, and the School of Law; and,
• Faculty of Medicine and Health (M&H) which comprises three Schools – the School of Nursing, the School of Rural Medicine, and the School of Psychology.

HEPPP projects – Experience Days and High School Leadership Camps

During the year Oorala ran 4 camps and 4 experience days for Indigenous high school students. The camps attracted 81 students and was support by $200,000 in HEPPP funding. The Experience Days attracted 66 students and was supported by $46,500 in HEPPP funding.

1.2    The Oorala Aboriginal Centre and Indigenous student access to Higher Education

The name "Oorala", from a local Aboriginal word meaning "a camp" or "a place where people come together" was chosen by Aboriginal students enrolled at UNE when the Centre first opened. It reflects the historical significance of the site and its connection with the local Aboriginal community, and highlights the Centre's significance as a place that draws together Aboriginal students from all regions of Australia.

In the early 1990s, Oorala introduced three highly successful alternate entry pathway programmes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students at UNE. These included the national award winning TRACKS tertiary preparation programme, the Pre-Orientation Programme (POP) and the Internal Selection Programme (ISP). Together these programmes broadened the available access to higher education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Due to a number of practice-led teaching and learning initiatives these three programmes are, some twenty-five years later, still a foundational part of the suite of academic supports offered to Indigenous students by Oorala. Oorala has maintained the relevance and “best practice standards” of these Programmes through continual evaluation and review; ongoing academic development; continuous community collaboration and partnership; and technological innovations in course design and delivery. This has occurred in collaboration with relevant professional and academic staff across UNE including staff within Information Technology, Library Services, Learning Design and/or Discipline based expertise. The currency of these programmes, as viable alternate entry pathways to UNE’s Bachelor Programmes, is for example, reflected in Indigenous student enrolment statistics reported by the Faculty of Humanities Social Science and Education (HASSE) for 2018. In the Faculty of HASSE the study load for Indigenous students who entered HASSE programmes via bases of admission other than direct entry was 102.8 EFTSL compared to 9.9 EFTSL who entered as school leavers.

1.3    Bridging and enabling courses

As mentioned above the provision of alternative entry pathways is a significant component of UNE’s long-term and successful approach to ensuring Indigenous student access, which includes a flexible approach to entry requirements through Oorala’s Direct Entry (ISP) and TRACKS Programmes. Additionally, UNE has an online Pathways Enabling Course that is also available to Indigenous students although it is not specifically tailored to support Indigenous transition to University. A total of 90 Indigenous students were enrolled in UNE Enabling Programmes in 2018 (Table 1).

Table 1: Summary of UNE Bridging and Enabling Courses.

1.3.1 Additional enabling strategies

UNE also provides other discipline specific access and enabling programmes for our Indigenous students. Within the Faculty of Medicine and Health, for example, the following alternate entry pathways for Indigenous students are available:

• The School of Rural Medicine collaborates with the University of Newcastle who hosts the Miroma Bunbilla Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Pre-entry to the Joint Medical Programme (JMP). This Programme consists of a five -seven-day On-Campus experience in which prospective medical students participate in a range of pre- admission activities including multiple skills assessment, personal qualities assessment, small group problem- based learning tutorials, anatomy sessions and basic science resource sessions. A confirmation of Aboriginality interview is also included, in which the University Elder in Residence and an Aboriginal community member meet with each prospective student. Three of the 2018 participants in this Programme in 2018 have commenced in the JMP at UNE in 2019.
• The School of Health provides Indigenous students with access to the UNE Bachelor of Nursing Degree by providing information and opportunity for students to participate in:
  • Cadetships with NSW Health (any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student entering an undergraduate nursing degree at UNE is eligible to apply for a NSW Government sponsored cadetship with NSW Health); and
  • Direct Entry (Interview Pathway) – an alternative pathway for enrolment in a Bachelor of Nursing aimed at any nursing student.

1.3.2 Sub Degree Programmes

UNE’s sub-degree undergraduate programmes, as qualifications requiring shorter duration of study, are increasingly valuable as alternate pathways into further study at the Bachelors level. There were 22 Indigenous students enrolled in sub-degree programmes in 2018. The useability of UNE’s Diploma and Advanced Diploma courses as alternate entry pathways into our Degree Programmes is illustrated by the example of one Indigenous student who in 2018 achieved highly in the Diploma of Science, then undertook the Miroma Bunbilla Indigenous Early Entry Programme; and is now enrolled in 2019 in the first year of the Joint Medicine Programme at UNE. UNE has also identified potential for expansion of Diploma level programmes to include more content with Indigenous knowledge and perspectives. In this regard, and as foreshadowed in the Oorala Strategic Plan, in 2018 the Oorala Aboriginal Centre began scoping a Diploma in Aboriginal Heritage Practice to be delivered from the Centre in 2020/2021.

1.4    Scholarships

1.4.1 ISSP-Funded Undergraduate Scholarship Support

UNE is committed to supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students with scholarships to help achieve their academic goals. As part of this commitment, the Oorala Aboriginal Centre put together two new ISSP funded initiatives in 2018: the Oorala Merit Prize and the Oorala Study Support Scholarships.

The Oorala Merit Prize: This Prize is designed to recognise high performing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student success. It is focused on undergraduate students and is to be awarded annually to three students from each UNE Faculty who have completed a minimum of 72 credit points of study. Additionally one Indigenous student from the TRACKS Tertiary Preparation Programme and one student from the Pathway Enabling Programme, who have successfully completed their course, and are currently enrolled in an undergraduate unit of study at UNE, will be considered for a Merit Prize. Merit Prizes are awarded to students with the highest course grade point average (GPA) at the time of selection, and it will be a one-off prize awarded once throughout a students’ period of study at UNE. In 2018 there were eleven recipients of the inaugural Oorala Merit Prize (See Reward Column in Table 2).

Oorala Study Support Scholarships: This is a new suite of scholarships offered by Oorala that are specifically designed to kick start Indigenous student experience at UNE; enhance their on-line study experience and provide assistance throughout their university journey. There are three separate scholarship categories:

• Commencing Student Support Scholarships;
• Continuing Student Support Scholarships; and
• Students with Disability Support Scholarships.

Priority for these scholarships are given to remote and regional students; and in recognition of the technological and information needs of our students the scholarships are focused on providing Laptops, Internet Access Vouchers and Book Vouchers to commencing and continuing students; as well as providing individualised study support for those students with a disability. Some 56 students were awarded these scholarships in 2018 (See: Education Column in Table 2).

Table 2: ISSP Supported Scholarships (2018 Breakdown).

Indigenous Commonwealth Scholarships

In addition to the new ‘kick starter’ scholarships developed by Oorala, ISSP grant monies were also used to fund a number of ongoing Indigenous Commonwealth Scholarships (as per Sections 19-22 of the Indigenous Student Assistance Grants Guidelines 2017 [herein ‘the Guidelines’]) including: scholarships that assist with education costs (Indigenous Commonwealth Education Costs Scholarships[ICECS]) and; scholarships that assist with relocation costs, accommodation costs or relocation and accommodation costs (Indigenous Commonwealth Accommodation Scholarships [ICAS]). Section 21 (3) (a) of ‘the Guidelines’ requires that a minimum of 95% of the Scholarship amount paid to regional and remote students in the preceding year (i.e. 2017) be paid to regional and remote students in 2018. For UNE the minimum funds to be offered in 2018 was $81, 432 (i.e. 95% of 2017 funds shown in Table 2 above). The actual amount of $203, 632.44 offered to remote or regional Indigenous students in Scholarship support by UNE in 2018 represents a funding offer more than 250% above the minimum required.

At UNE, these Commonwealth scholarships are provided to Indigenous students on an ongoing basis for the full-time- equivalent duration of their course of study. Details of the funding amounts provided to Indigenous students at UNE (in the form of an ICECS or ICACS) is shown in Table 3. Additional monies paid as endowment grants are also shown.

Table 3: Details of all Commonwealth Equity Scholarships Paid in 2018 (by Class).

_{Source: Oorala Aboriginal Centre and UNE financial Services Directorate}.

1.4.2 Non-ISSP Funded Undergraduate Scholarship Support

The Oorala Aboriginal Centre, and the broader UNE community further supports Indigenous undergraduate students to participate and progress in their studies by:

• providing a range of additional Non-ISSP funded scholarships;
• providing a number of discipline specific awards and prizes that recognise and support academic achievement and progression;
• actively facilitating the application of eligible students for external scholarship opportunities;
• providing a detailed webpage that identifies the many internal and external funding opportunities available to students; and by,
• providing regular email, social media and online learning system hub updates about forthcoming scholarship opportunities.

Brief details highlighting the range, availability and use of such financial and associated supports by Indigenous students at UNE in 2018, are provided below:

NSW Aboriginal Housing Accommodation Scholarships: Since 2016, Oorala has collaborated with the NSW Aboriginal Housing Office to make available accommodation scholarships to Indigenous students at UNE. In 2018, twelve Indigenous students studying on-campus at UNE were supported with these scholarships (Table 4).

Donor Scholarships: The University also has a number of scholarships funded by various external donors (individuals and organisations, including UNE). A number of these scholarships are specifically available to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students studying at UNE and two student applicants met the eligible requirements and were awarded these for the 2018 academic year (Table 4). A number of these available scholarships were not awarded in 2018 because either there were no applicants, or applicants did not successfully meet the eligibility requirements (Table 5).

Table 4: Donor Scholarships awarded to UNE Indigenous undergraduate students in 2018.

_{a. This Donor scholarship is awarded at a rate of $10,000 p/a. to a value up to $40,000 per applicant.
# Four Max Schroder scholarships were available each valued at $24,000 in total but only one was awarded in 2018 (Table 5 below).}

Table 5: Donor Scholarships available to UNE indigenous undergraduate students (but not awarded in 2018).

_{Source: UNE Scholarships Office.}

Discipline Specific Awards: There were several other awards provided exclusively to Indigenous students at UNE in 2018. These included annual undergraduate student nursing achievement awards, as well as a number of undergraduate prizes awarded to Indigenous students in the Joint Medical Programme for successful progression through to the next year of their studies (Table 6). In addition to such awards, where applicable, students are provided with discipline specific advice on other externally funded scholarships to which they may be eligible. For example in the School of Health Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students who are continuing Bachelor degree studies at UNE are alerted to their eligibility for the following scholarships:

• Australian College of Nursing – The Puggy Hunter Memorial Scholarship Scheme (F/T) ($15,000);
• Australian College of Nursing – the Puggy Hunter Memorial Scholarship Scheme (P/T) ($7,500);
• Australian Rotary Health Indigenous Health Scholarship ($5,000); and the
• NSW Health Aboriginal Postgraduate Scholarship ($15,000)

Similarly, in the School of Psychology Indigenous students are encouraged to apply for the following Indigenous awards:

• ATSIPP Indigenous Student Conference Attendance Awards offered by the Australian Psychological Society (APS) to attend the annual APS conference. The award provides up to $1200 to attend the Annual APS Conference;
• Australian Psychological Society Bendi Lango Bursary for Indigenous postgraduate students ; and
• The Muriel Mary Snow Indigenous Honours Prize for 4th year students commencing postgraduate study with a research component.

Table 6: Additional Awards/Prizes awarded to Indigenous undergraduate students at UNE in 2018

_{Source: UNE Schools of Health and Rural Medicine.}

The Aurora Indigenous Scholars International Study Tour: In 2018 the Oorala Aboriginal Centre facilitated the scholarship applications of up to eight high achieving Indigenous students from UNE to participate in the Aurora Indigenous Scholars International Study Tour. Sponsored by the Aurora Education Foundation this scholarship enables students to participate in a five-week academic tour of leading universities in the US and the UK, including Berkeley, Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, New York University, Cambridge, London School of Economics, London Business School and Oxford, with a view to taking up postgraduate study opportunities. Facilitation by Academic staff in Oorala included first identifying and then assisting eligible students to apply and supporting these students to obtain referees from relevant Academic Supervisors. It was the first time any Indigenous student from UNE had applied for this scholarship and of all applications made; three UNE students were successful in being awarded a scholarship for the 2018 Study Tour. This was a notably high number of awardees for this scholarship from the one institution. Of the three students who were awarded the scholarship, two had to decline because of unforeseen issues with scheduling, whilst the third student undertook the study Tour in October 2018.

Oorala Scholarship Webpage: To engage the more than two-thirds of the Indigenous student cohort at UNE who study online, UNE provides a dedicated digital Indigenous cultural space by hosting the Oorala Aboriginal Centre website on its domain. This website includes an Oorala Study Support Scholarships portal that links to information about all the scholarship opportunities available to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students studying at UNE. The website is available at: https://www.une.edu.au/info-for/indigenous-matters/oorala/student-experience/financial-assistance. Further, as part of the Integrated Student Engagement Plan initiated by Oorala in 2016 (see Section 2.1.1) students are electronically notified of forthcoming scholarship opportunities via: email through the Student Management System, via curated posts to the Oorala Facebook page, and through notices posted to ‘the Hub’ the designated Indigenous student forum curated by Oorala on “Moodle,” the UNE Learning Management System.

1.5 Support for Indigenous Postgraduate Scholarship at UNE

In accord with the UNE 2016-2020 Research Plan, UNE Research Services has actively worked to support and progress Indigenous participation in the research enterprise of the University. In particular, Research Services has undertaken a number of measures to offer financial support to Indigenous Research students at UNE in 2018 including: offering a new suite of Indigenous Higher Education Research (IHDR) Scholarships (Each valued at $30, 000 p.a. for three years for a PhD; or two years for a Research Masters); transitioning a number of Higher Degree Research students to Indigenous Early Career Fellowships; and providing seed grant funds to support Indigenous community engagement in research. A unique feature of the IHDR scholarships is that candidates are eligible to apply to Research Services for an additional $7, 000.00 per year for cultural supervision and/or mentoring on top of their standard scholarship. A summary breakdown of these funds are provided in Tables 7 and 8 below. This financial support was directly funded by UNE Research Services.

Table 7: Value of Scholarships and Stipends awarded to UNE Indigenous Higher Degree Research Students in 2018.

^{Source: UNE Research Services Directorate}

Table 8: Seed Grants Paid to Indigenous Research Students in 2018.

^{Source: UNE Research Services Directorate}

1.6 Community Engagement and Outreach activities

UNE recognises that a key part of its role as a member of the Regional Universities Network (RUN) is to contribute to, and enhance, the social and cultural capital of the region in which it is placed. Section 1.6.1 provides details of three UNE outreach activities focused on Indigenous student access and participation. Each of these activities were funded in 2018 through the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Programme (HEPPP). Following this, Table 11 details the comprehensive range of community outreach and engagement activities undertaken by the Oorala Aboriginal Centre in 2018. The breadth and diversity of the activities listed in Table 10 attests to the strong commitment the Oorala Aboriginal Centre has made to enhance the educational opportunities and outcomes for Indigenous Australians within the New England Region and beyond; and especially for those in the region it serves. Furthermore, by embracing the themes of ‘community’, ‘culture’ and ‘partnerships’ Oorala has developed a multi-faceted portfolio of community outreach and engagement activities that includes: Seminars and/or Symposia on issues of historical and or contemporary importance to Aboriginal community members, gatherings to honour and respect community Elders; events celebrating key dates of national and/or local importance to Aboriginal people; and a number of Leadership Camps and Student Experience Days for Indigenous youth to support their High School journey and encourage/develop aspirations for University level studies. Finally, Table 12 provides details of a further range of activities undertaken by other schools and/or directorates of the University to engage current and future Indigenous students and their associated communities. The activities listed in Table 11 demonstrate that the commitment to improving the access, participation and outcomes of Aboriginal people reaches out beyond Oorala and is, in fact part of the social fabric of the wider University.

1.6.1 Education Participation and Partnership Programme (HEPPP)

The Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Programme (HEPPP) aims to ensure that Australians from low socio- economic (SES) backgrounds who have the ability to study at university have the opportunity to do so. The funding provided by the Federal Government provides assistance to universities to undertake activities and implement strategies that improve access to undergraduate courses for people from low SES backgrounds, as well as improving the retention and completion rates of those students. UNE has been running HEPPP projects to assist students from low socio-economic backgrounds achieve since 2013. In 2018, the following three HEPPP funded projects were specifically targeted at improving the access and awareness of Indigenous students to higher education possibilities at UNE.

On Campus Experience Days: During 2018 the Oorala Aboriginal Centre hosted four one-day, discipline-specific, UNE Experience Days for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from local and neighbouring community High Schools. These were supported by $40,000 of HEPPP funding. The experience days were designed to increase student awareness of higher education pathways and increase overall awareness of the diverse opportunities and associated careers attainable through higher education. Likewise, the experience days were designed to increase student aspirations for and understandings of university life and to extend each students expectation of their ability to complete a university course. In 2018, a total of 91 students [an increase of 33% from 2017] attended the four experience days (See Tables 8 and 10 for further details).

Youth Leadership Camps: During the year, Oorala ran four leadership camps for Indigenous high school students that was supported by $350,000 in HEPPP funding. The camps attracted 122 students {a 51% increase on the numbers attending in 2017] This year the positive impact of the camps on Indigenous students was recognised as the Oorala Aboriginal Centre won the “Cynthia Briggs – Empowerment through Education Award” from the Australian College of Educators for its delivery of the Oorala Youth Leadership Camps (See Tables 9 and 10 for further details).

Kruki Indigenous Summer School: In 2018, this Summer School was hosted by the School of Rural Medicine for the fourth consecutive year, and was supported by $202,888 in HEPPP funding. The five-day residential programme was attended by twenty Indigenous High School students (Years 9 -12) who were interested in studying medicine at UNE. This was an increase of six more Indigenous Youth than in the previous year. Various activities and workshops provide participants with “a week in the life of a year 1 medical student”. The aim is to build confidence, motivation and demystify the study of medicine for Aboriginal students (See Table 10 for further details).

Table 9: Summary of 2018 attendance numbers at Oorala Indigenous High School Student Experience Days.

Table 10: Summary of 2018 attendance numbers at Oorala Indigenous High School Youth Development Camps.

Table 11: Summary of Community Engagement and Outreach activities of the UNE Oorala Aboriginal Centre in 2018.

Table 12: Summary of additional Indigenous Community Engagement and Outreach activities of UNE in 2018.

1.6  Indigenous student numbers

1.6.1 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Enrolments 2018

In 2018 there were 815  818 Indigenous students enrolled at UNE. This number is consistent with the sustained upward trend in Indigenous student enrolments experienced at UNE over the past six years (Figure 1). Consequently, in 2018 there were 40% more Indigenous students enrolled at UNE than there were in 2013.

_{Source: Student Profile Excel Worksheet dated 21/03/2019 prepared by UNE Business Intelligence Unit.
Figure 1: Total Indigenous Student Enrolments at UNE 2013 - 2018}

1.6.2 Total Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student Load 2018

In line with the strong upward trend in Indigenous student enrolments at UNE the Indigenous share of total domestic student load has also trended strongly upwards since 2013 (Figure 2). The EFTSL of Indigenous students at UNE was 310.08 in 2013 and is 406.4 in 2018, an overall increase of 24% in this period. The variance in percentage increase in EFTSL (i.e. 24%) versus overall enrolment numbers (40%) in the same six year period likely reflects the changing nature of the UNE student cohort with increasing numbers of students undertaking part-time and/or online study whilst working and/or undertaking parenting/carer duties.

_{Source: Student Profile Excel Worksheet dated 21/03/2019 prepared by UNE Business Intelligence Unit.
Figure 2: Total Indigenous Student Load (EFTSL) at UNE for the six year period 2013-2018 inclusive.}

1.6.3 Commencing and Continuing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student Trends 2013-2018

Since the introduction of the Integrated Student Engagement Plan by Oorala in 2016 – the gap between the study load of commencing Indigenous students and the study load of continuing Indigenous students, appears to be gradually widening (Figure 3). This suggests that the commitment of Oorala to improve Indigenous retention through timely, culturally appropriate and sustained engagement is beginning to having measurable and practical effect (See: Sections 2.1 & 2.2).

_{Source: Student Profile Excel Worksheet dated 21/03/2019 prepared by UNE Business Intelligence Unit.
Figure 3: Commencing and Continuing Indigenous Student study load as proportion of Total Indigenous EFTSL at UNE for period 2013- 2018.}

1.6.4 Internal and External Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student Cohorts 2013-2018

The proportion of Indigenous students who choose to study units online at UNE has increased marginally from 64.1% of total EFTSL in 2013 to 66% in 2018 (Figure 4). The important underlying trend however is that for the last five or so years approximately two-thirds of the Indigenous cohort at UNE has chosen to study off-campus and therefore with a concomitant reliance on online modes of study. The positive overall increases in EFTSL and student numbers during this same period (see Figure 3) highlights the fact that Indigenous students are: (a) increasingly attracted to the accessibility of UNE’s courses [which is itself built on UNE’s long standing commitment to Distance Education]; and (b) responsive to both UNE’s continuing innovations in online teaching and learning; as well as to UNE’s commitment to enhanced flexibility in course delivery and design. It further suggests that the increased communication and pastoral support measures developed as part of Oorala’s Integrated Student Engagement Plan (see Section 2.2 & 2.2) are well placed to support the current and future needs of the Indigenous student cohort at UNE.

_{Source: Student Profile Excel Worksheet dated 21/03/2019 prepared by UNE Business Intelligence Unit.
Figure 4: Internal and External Indigenous Student Study load as proportion of Total Indigenous EFTSL, UNE 2013-2018.}

¹ _{Although 2019 - 2020 data will be required to confirm this trend given the noted fluctuation [and possible aberration] of the 2017 and 2018 data}

1.6.5 The rise and fall of EFTSL of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from remote and regional areas

Students from regional and/or remote Australia accounted for 279.9 (or 69%) of the total EFTSL of Indigenous students at UNE in 2018 (Table 13). This percentage lies close to the mean EFTSL load of 70.8% for Indigenous students from regional and remote Australia that has held for UNE over the last 6 years. Whilst the EFTSL load of Indigenous students from regional and/or remote Australia has remained steady over the past six years, it is noted that the number of Indigenous students from Inner Regional Australia has steadily increased (Figure 5). This is likely to reflect broader demographic changes in regional Australia such as the growth of regional cities as population and service hubs.

Table 13: Study Load (EFTSL) of Indigenous students studying at UNE in 2018 by their Location. (by Calendar Year)

_{Source: Student Profile Excel Worksheet dated 21/03/2019 prepared by UNE Business Intelligence Unit.}

_{Source: Student Profile Excel Worksheet dated 21/03/2019 prepared by UNE Business Intelligence Unit.
Figure 5: .comparison of Total EFTSL of Indigenous students at UNE from Regional and/or Remote Australia for the period 2013-2018}