Back to previous pageIndigenous Elder graduates from UC
Indigenous elder graduates from UC
Amanda Powell
4 April 2011: Motivated by the death in custody of Aboriginal man Cameron Doomadgee on Palm Island in 2004, Wayne Applebee began a journey to bring about change.
“In 2007, I commenced a Bachelor of Laws but soon realised that as a lawyer I may be able to help a small number of people, but it was the whole system that needed to be changed,” he said.
Last week, the 62-year-old Indigenous elder graduated with a Bachelor of Social Science in Justice Studies from the University of Canberra, and is commencing his PhD this year.
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Wayne Applebee. Photo: Rohani Moore |
After taking on a position as a panel member of the Galambany Circle Court that deals with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders, Mr Applebee realised there were limited options available to the magistrate when it came to sentencing.
“This was problematic in the sense it provided little opportunity for rehabilitation and for the possibility of changed behaviour in offenders.”
Last year, Mr Applebee wrote the ‘Circuit Breaker Program’ and presented it as a submission to the Federal Government House Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs.
Earlier this year, the Narragunnawali Aboriginal Corporation was formed to implement the program.
Mr Applebee hopes the program will help reduce the number of Indigenous incarcerations by assisting the offender in their rehabilitation. The program can also be used as an option before or after sentencing.
His thesis, ‘Positive cultural reinforcement of Indigenous cognitive behavioural change’ will also look at Indigenous incarceration.
“The gradual breakdown of community, dispossession of land, cultural contact, historical brutality and the stolen generations all continue to cause stress and confusion and erode a sense of position and self worth for many Aboriginal people,” Mr Applebee said.
“Some Aboriginal men feel they have no role to play and continue down a well trodden path to hotels, conflict, domestic violence and finally, jail.”
Mr Applebee says while he has achieved a lot, there is still a lot to do.
“Nothing has ever been achieved easily for Aboriginal people; I don’t expect that will change soon but I remain optimistic.”
Mr Applebee is also a teaching fellow at the University’s Ngunnawal Centre. He teaches the Ngunnawal Foundation Study Skills Unit which helps prepare Indigenous students for University study- the same subject he completed when he first enrolled at the University of Canberra in 2007.
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