Australia has a colonial history of dispossession and continuing disadvantage for Indigenous people.

In a rapidly changing cultural environment, contributions to Aboriginal community development and equity are being made from an increasingly wide range of professional areas including health, teaching, administration, business, law, heritage protection and natural environment management.

A clear understanding of Indigenous culture and contemporary issues is becoming a valuable requisite in today's multi-cultural Australia and is essential for any meaningful participation in Aboriginal Reconciliation.

In recent years Indigenous people have been participating more energetically in the private sector and Indigenous arts and toursim, in particular, are major growth areas. At a more personal level, Aboriginal Studies provides for an enriched understanding of this continent's cultural heritage, expanding our perspectives beyond that of our recent colonial past and into a realm of rich social, aesthetic and linguistic diversity that all Australians can value.