Education changes lives. It opens doors, creates opportunity, and strengthens communities. Yet for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young women, the barriers to completing school and stepping confidently into further study or employment remain high.
That's why Mary Ward International and the Loreto Sisters have partnered with the Aurora Education Foundation (Aurora), a First Nations organisation walking alongside students from high school through to university and beyond.
This six-year partnership builds on Mary Ward's vision and the Loreto tradition of education as a pathway to justice. Together, we are helping First Nations young women thrive, supported by culture, community, and their own aspirations.
The High School Program is a student-centred initiative that supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from the end of Year 7 through to their first year out of school. It combines academic, wellbeing, and cultural support, making it the only program of its kind in Australia.
Through the program, students and families have access to:
Together, these initiatives ensure that students not only succeed academically but also thrive with a strong sense of identity, community, and purpose.
RISE is a five-year research project creating Australia's first large-scale dataset on Indigenous education outcomes. By delivering and evaluating three models of Aurora's High School Program, ranging from the most intensive to the least intensive, RISE is helping to identify the types of support that make the greatest difference for First Nations students.
More than 500 students in NSW are already involved, with this number expected to grow to 800 by 2027. Their progress and experiences are being closely monitored by Aurora's Indigenous Monitoring and Evaluation team, ensuring cultural knowledge guides both the process and the insights gained.
Through this work, RISE is answering critical questions about the effectiveness of tutoring and the importance of cultural enrichment, family engagement, and wellbeing support, while also defining the level of investment required to strengthen outcomes. The evidence it generates will help shape the future of Indigenous education policy and practice across Australia.
* Aurora’s 2025 RISE Report
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