More boarding places in Melbourne for remote Indigenous students

Media release - Minister Wyatt

The Morrison Government is providing more than $3.6 million over three years to expand the Melbourne Indigenous Transition School’s (MITS) boarding program.

Minister for Indigenous Australians, the Hon Ken Wyatt AM, MP, said the funding will enable MITS to meet the increasing demand for their highly successful program and will support up to 86 Indigenous boarding students by 2024.

“Boarding schools are an important part of Australia’s education system, offering many remote children the opportunity to receive an education they might otherwise not have access to,” Minister Wyatt said.

“The MITS program supports students from remote communities in the Northern Territory with culturally safe accommodation to reduce barriers to participating in school and improve education outcomes for Indigenous students.

“It has been carefully designed with the families and communities it supports and is often cited as one of the best Indigenous boarding examples, achieving over 95 per cent school attendance rates.

Senator the Hon Jane Hume said that despite the impacts of COVID-19, “demand for boarding places at MITS continues to significantly exceed available places and our Government is proud to increase the capacity of the Alumni Boarding Program.

“It means more students can reach their full learning potential, closing the education gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students.”

This funding builds on the 2021 Budget measure that is providing $15.7 million this financial year to improve support for boarding providers with a high proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from remote and very remote areas.

Under this measure, MITS received a $474,360 grant to help support the education, health and wellbeing needs of their boarding students in 2022 following disruptions to schooling resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.