Across Australia, First Nations students remain underrepresented in higher education.*
Too often, systemic barriers such as distance, cost and competing family and community responsibilities make university seem out of reach. Closing this gap matters – because education creates pathways to opportunity, leadership and stronger communities.
Learning grounded in culture
Education built on respect and connection to Country
Deakin’s National Indigenous Knowledges Education Research Innovation (NIKERI) Institute does university differently.
Through its unique Community-Based Delivery (CBD) model, students combine on-campus intensives with study from home – enabling them to balance family, work and community commitments while pursuing higher education. Since inception, more than 1,100 students have graduated through NIKERI^, taking their skills, knowledge and leadership back to strengthen their communities across Australia.
Philanthropy enhances this model with the wrap-around support students need to thrive – from support for journeying thousands of kilometres to campus, to staying connected with mentors and student services along the way.
Together, we can support First Nations students to thrive at university and beyond.
Creating equal opportunity
Walking alongside every student journey
You can help enrich the NIKERI experience at every stage – from providing help to apply and arrange travel, to engaging with academics and ultimately celebrating graduation.
With your generosity, we can:
- support student journeys – fund the dedicated services team that walks alongside each student, helping them navigate practical and academic challenges
- break down barriers to access – cover critical costs like travel and accommodation for students who may journey hundreds or thousands of kilometres to attend intensives
- champion successful graduation – provide resources that help students not just start but finish their degrees, returning as leaders who strengthen their communities.
Every gift to NIKERI is an investment in the next generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders – uniting knowledge, culture and education to create stronger futures.
Stronger futures, stronger communities
Every gift helps remove barriers and open doors to higher education. With your support, NIKERI can continue empowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to succeed on their own terms – creating opportunity, strengthening culture and shaping leadership for generations to come.
What's Next
We deliberately use the terms Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Indigenous, First Nations, First Peoples interchangeably and in doing so acknowledge that while people have personal preferences, none of these terms are perfect and with that imperfection each carry nuanced residual forms of colonial power. This content is developed with the core value of respect.
*Source: AIHW: Closing the Gap targets: key findings and implications
^Source: NIKERI