Opportunity of a lifetime:
Indigenous cadet off to study at Harvard
Kathleen Jackson
One of the AIHW's brightest and youngest staff members is about to embark on the academic journey of a lifetime at Harvard University in the USA.
AIHW Indigenous cadet, Kathleen Jackson, was thrilled to find out earlier this year that she had been accepted into the PhD program in the Department of African and African American Studies.
Her acceptance into the program means she can continue her research into the little-known phenomenon of 'racial passing'— research that was sparked by her own family's experiences.
Ms Jackson describes racial passing as a situation where a person of a particular ethnic or racial background pretends to be of a different racial or ethnic background.
'Racial passing occurs for a variety of different reasons, but it's usually done for economic benefits, like getting a job, and it typically happens in racially hostile environments', Ms Jackson says.
'In Australia it was happening during the protectionist and assimilation period when people would pass as white or of a different kind of background to protect their children against being removed.'
The Indigenous Cadet Program at the AIHW
The AIHW's Indigenous Cadet Program, subsidised by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, provides financial assistance for cadets completing their tertiary studies while also offering a 12-week work placement at the AIHW.
In recent years cadets have gained valuable employment experience working on AIHW Indigenous health and welfare projects such as the online Closing the Gap Clearinghouse, and the Healthy for Life project.
For more information about the program visit
<www.deewr.gov.au/ics> or email
.
Ms Jackson says her interest in racial passing was intensified after discovering her great-grandfather had 'passed' and seeing the consequences the experience has had on her family.
'He denied his Indigenous heritage to protect his family and avoid the stigma of being an Aboriginal man', Ms Jackson said.
'Growing up, we were never allowed to talk about it, but then this whole racial identity dilemma came out after he died.'
Ms Jackson says luckily her mother was eventually able to tell them about the family's Indigenous heritage, but that even until recently the 'racial passing' of her great-grandfather was 'a known unspeakable fact'.
'He was a shearer and had spent some time over in New Zealand working, so had some knowledge of New Zealand, so he pretended to be Maori', Ms Jackson said.
'As a result, we lost touch with Indigenous culture for quite a while there and it still causes ructions within our family.'
Ms Jackson's research on the topic so far has led her to believe that racial passing has had a significant impact on Australian history.
From a recent trip with a cohort of fellow Indigenous students, she estimates that at least three-quarters have a family member who has 'passed'.
The opportunity to complete her PhD on the topic at Harvard will allow her to gain some valuable insight, and have access to an abundance of resources.
'What I hope to do is use the African American history as a jump off point because, while the research there hasn't been extensive, there's been a lot more done in the US than anywhere else', Ms Jackson said.
The AIHW Reconciliation Action Plan
The AIHW's Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) sets out goals to attract more Indigenous people to work at the Institute, including:
- Using culturally sensitive recruiting strategies when advertising positions and when interviewing
- Promoting the AIHW as an employer of choice among universities and education institutions
- Encouraging Indigenous students to work with the AIHW
- Maintaining the Indigenous temporary employment register Benefiting from the Australian Public Service Commission Indigenous Employment Program.
The RAP declares that all AIHW units will work together toward achieving the APS wide target of 2.7% Indigenous staff by 2015.
For more information about the RAP visit <http://bit.ly/RAP_12-13>
'It's going to be a transnational study, which means it looks at the concept across borders. So I'm going to be looking at how passing occurred within African American populations in contrast to Aboriginal Australia.'
Ms Jackson began working at the AIHW in 2009, as part of the Australian Public Service Indigenous Cadetship Program, which helps Indigenous students work part-time while they continue their university studies.
Studying a Bachelor of Arts and Law when she first heard about the cadetship, she decided it was too good an opportunity to pass up.
'I was really excited by the projects and the variety of work here and because it is so far-reaching, and I was particularly interested in the welfare side of things, like detention and prison rates', she said.
Ms Jackson says even though she was 'terrible at maths', working on Indigenous projects at the Institute opened up a whole new world for her.
'I was really motivated a lot by my own Indigenous identity and my desire to do something for my community.
'Working on things like the Closing the Gap Clearinghouse project allowed me to get involved in the quality assessments, so I got to read literally hundreds of journals and reports about programs for Indigenous people. It was just such an eye-opener about what was out there and improved my knowledge of the field so much.'
Indigenous applied epidemiology students at AIHW
In addition to Indigenous cadetships, AIHW also has a longstanding commitment to supporting Indigenous students undertaking Masters of Applied Epidemiology studies.
In recent years we have provided placements to a number of Indigenous students including Kyle Turner, who is now completing his PhD in public health at Oxford University in the UK, and Ray Lovett, currently an Indigenous Visiting Research Fellow at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, at the Australian National University (ANU) and also completing his PhD in Epidemiology at the ANU.
For more information about the program visit <www.deewr.gov.au/ics> or email .
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