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Travellers passing through Brisbane Airport this festive season were treated to an uplifting musical experience as Camerata –...
Brisbane Airport is proud to have been the first Australian airport to formally commit to celebrating and promoting the traditions, laws, and customs of First Nations people through a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).
The RAP aims to promote justice, recognition and healing and Brisbane Airport believes that lifting education, workforce readiness and, ultimately, economic participation are key priorities in contributing to the advancement of Indigenous Australians.
One initiative to support these key priorities is Brisbane Airport’s partnership with Yalari, an organisation that provides Indigenous children from regional and remote communities across Australia with the opportunity to receive a full boarding school scholarship for their entire secondary education.
Yalari is set to celebrate its twentieth anniversary of operations in 2025, but the true beginning of the Yalari story occurs in 1979 when a young Aboriginal boy growing up in rural Queensland was awarded a scholarship to attend Toowoomba Grammar School (TGS) thanks to the goodwill of his Year 7 teacher, Rosemary Bishop.
Bishop saw qualities of drive and ambition in Waverley Stanley, the future founder of Yalari, and reached out to the local principal at TGS and asked “would you please meet this young boy and give him an interview for a scholarship?”
Waverley Stanley went on to become the first Aboriginal student to complete Year 12 at TGS and to be appointed school prefect in the school’s 100+ year history.
Mrs Bishop’s interest in Waverley's access to education was life-changing, and this act of kindness is now immortalised in Yalari’s ‘Rosemary Bishop Indigenous Education Scholarships’.
Since 2005, 784 Rosemary Bishop Indigenous Education Scholarships have been awarded, with 248 students from grades 7-12 currently involved in Yalari’s scholarship program, across Australia.
Each year, up to 50 scholarships are offered to Indigenous children from regional and remote communities around Australia who are going into Year 7. Children must satisfy the selection criteria and be willing to give 100% towards their education. Students have come from as far north as Thursday Island in the Torres Straight to Moree in NSW, and everywhere in between.
Brisbane Airport has committed to fund a student scholarship in partnership with Yalari. Currently, the scholarship recipient is completing Grade 7 at a prominent boarding school in Brisbane and will see the student through to Grade 12.
“My favourite thing about being a Yalari scholar is going on special trips to places I haven't been to before and also meeting new people that I don't know. This term I have really enjoyed learning about ancient times in Egypt and the Pharaohs”.
Yalari’s incredible range of services includes support for students throughout their boarding school journey, with guidance from Student Support Officers and Yalari alumni who help them adjust and thrive in their new educational environment.
In addition to this, Yalari’s Pathways Department organise many senior school dinners, camps, and round table events where students can sit down with people from a range of different professions to ask questions, connect and see what careers interest them.
The close relationships Yalari alumni have with current students and their willingness to help the next round of scholarship recipients helps see 93% of students complete the full scholarship program and progress into careers ranging from artists to politicians, doctors, journalists, and athletes to name a few.
After completing Year 12, students stay connected through Yalari’s alumni program as they move into further study. Yalari’s support continues in this next chapter of the student’s lives with pathway scholarships that provide financial support while studying. The biggest impact is made by fellow alumni who often take the chance to give back to the Yalari community.
Supporting students through their education at Australia’s leading boarding schools is only possible with the generosity of donors. Yalari offers plenty of opportunities for large corporations through to individuals to help support their mission.
Managing Director Llew Mullins shared how impactful Brisbane Airport’s donations have been for the scholarship recipient.
“Brisbane Airport’s support through the Rosemary Bishop Indigenous Scholarship is profoundly transforming the future outcome for a Yalari student. This partnership not only impacts the life of the individual student, but also creates a ripple effect for future generations. By walking alongside Yalari, Brisbane Airport is helping to forge lasting, positive change for Indigenous Australians and their communities.”
Yalari’s work has been monumental in changing the lives of not only the 784 scholarship recipients but also the families, friends and communities these highly-educated professionals support.
We’re exceptionally proud to be partnered with this organisation and the scholarship funded by Brisbane Airport is just one of the positive actions we’re undertaking through our RAP.
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