On this Remembrance Day, I want to pay particular tribute to Indigenous servicemen and women.

Their spirit is the same Anzac spirit we honour: a spirit of courage, determination and loyalty to their country and people.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians have fought with British and Australian forces throughout the past 110 years—from the Boer War onwards— and continue to serve today.

During the First World War in 1914 around 1000 Indigenous people fought for their country. Some were at Gallipoli.

Parliament has today passed amendments to the Higher Education Support Act 2003, to improve support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students at university.

Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Nigel Scullion, said that there had been an 85 per cent increase over the last decade in the number of Indigenous undergraduate students enrolled in university. However, retention and completion rates significantly lag behind those of other domestic students.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities will benefit from innovative projects to tackle smoking, through new grants awarded to seven organisations under the Australian Government’s $116.8 million Tackling Indigenous Smoking program.