Suzanne Lazaroo
28 March 2023: University of Canberra Aspirations Agent, Ngunnawal Centre tutor and a proud Bachelor of Engineering in Network and Software Engineering (Honours) graduate, Liam Searle’s combination of academic excellence and service to the community has seen him named this year’s Tom Calma Medal recipient.
The Medal is named in honour of University of Canberra Chancellor Professor Tom Calma AO – the University’s first Indigenous Chancellor.
It is awarded annually to a graduating Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander student who has achieved outstanding academic results, and has made a valuable contribution to the University and/or the wider community.
Chancellor Calma said that “the Tom Calma Medal is not awarded each year unless an exceptional graduating student is identified.
“What makes this award special is that it acknowledges both academic and civic achievements. This year’s recipient, Liam Searle, epitomises how rewarding university studies can be, especially if you are able to engage with the community and fellow students – it is a win-win outcome.
“I wish Liam all the best for the future.”
Mr Searle said that he is very thankful to receive the medal. “It is really a very warming feeling to know that your efforts haven’t gone unnoticed – and that’s a feeling I wish for all the other students who put in so much effort,” he said.
“That is probably what this medal means most to me – it reminds me of how studying and serving the community has so much worth.”
A proud Nukunu man, Mr Searle was born and raised in Canberra, where he lives with his mother and sister. This year’s graduation ceremonies hold special significance for Mr Searle’s family, as his sister Somer is also graduating, with a Bachelor of Psychology.
They’re following in their mother’s footsteps – Brenda Searle graduated in 2006 with a Diploma of Counselling.
Mr Searle decided to pursue a Bachelor of Engineering at the University right after he finished his studies at Gungahlin College.
“As I was coming to the end of my time in high school, I felt strongly that I wasn’t done with my studies quite yet – I wanted to take it further,” he said. “It felt like a very positive, comforting thing, to be actively doing something like this towards my own future.”
The Bachelor of Engineering course appealed to Mr Searle’s interest in IT and how things work.
“I'm a bit of a ‘tinkerer’ – I like to take things apart to understand how they work,” he said. “And that’s one of the main things that always struck me about software – it makes things work, it enables so much.
“Studying this degree really furthered my understanding, in terms of what computers and systems are ‘thinking. There was so much interesting material for me to wrap my head around.”
Mr Searle’s interest and hard work was rewarded with two Dean's Excellence Awards from the University in 2019 and 2020.
Reflecting his development and service outside his studies, Mr Searle also received the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award from the Youth Advance and Duke of Edinburgh International Award Australia in 2019.
When he first started his journey at the University, Mr Searle was involved with the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME), which sees university students become mentors for Indigenous students in Years 9 and 10 across Canberra.
“The AIME guys introduced me to the Aspire UC program, and I started working with them on outreach and engagement activities with equity groups,” he said. “We visited a lot of rural and regional areas surrounding Canberra, and it was super fun getting to work with kids.
“It wasn’t about recruiting them to come to UC – it was about planting the seeds for their futures, getting them to think about what happens after high school. Watching their eyes light up and their ambitions grow was a really big driver for me in that role, I just loved it – it’s why I ended up staying in the role of Aspirations Agent throughout my time at UC.”
Mr Searle also became very involved with the Ngunnawal Centre, the University’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student success and support centre.
“The Ngunnawal Centre is a great place for students to engage, to seek culturally safe support, financial aid and scholarships,” he said. “I was one of their first Gurumbul Champions, helping out at the Centre and promoting UC at community events.
“The Centre helps with financial aid and scholarships, and we have quiet study spaces and great wi-fi!
“We currently have fortnightly feeds, which are social events for everybody to come down, have a snack, a yarn, catch up about things and really drive that sense of community and family within the UC network – I used to plan those as part of my role.”
Mr Searle also became a tutor – and then tutor coordinator – at the Centre. “We have a team of about 30 tutors now, with about 40 students being actively tutored,” he said.
In the course of his studies and his roles as Ngunnawal Centre tutor and Aspiration Agent, Mr Searle has realised that his true passion – and his career – lies in working with people.
“Especially in the IT space, I think there is huge value in combining personable skills with knowledge and learning, in being that bridge between people and technology – especially when it comes to working collaboratively in a team,” he said.
“Being able to navigate IT and translate that in an easy-to-understand way for those less familiar with it as a skill in its own right, and combines IT and business spaces in a way that supports collaborative working.”
Mr Searle says that he has enjoyed every moment of his life at University.
“Four years have passed by that quickly!” he said.
Nonetheless, the desire for further study which drove his Year 12 self isn’t satiated quite yet.
Mr Searle will sadly be unable to attend his graduation ceremony this week, but for very good reason – he is on an Aurora Study Tour in the United States, touring institutions like Harvard and MIT.
“The Aurora Study Tours provide pathways for Indigenous students, and are supporting us to build connections with universities overseas as well,” he said.
This is the second Aurora Study Tour Mr Searle has been selected for – last year, he visited the United Kingdom, touring universities like Cambridge and Oxford.
“Last year’s study tour made it all real for me,” he said.
Mr Searle dreams of getting an MBA, and the tour brought such a possibility to life – in the same way that he saw his work as an Aspirations Agent make the dream of higher education real for high school students who may not have initially thought of it as realistic.
But before he furthers his postgraduate journey, Mr Searle will start a graduate analyst position at Accenture in June of this year.
He was offered the role after completing a CareerTrackers internship at the company.
CareerTrackers is a national non-profit organisation that creates internship opportunities for Indigenous university students, and has a long relationship with the University of Canberra.
Regardless of the direction Mr Searle’s journey takes him, he will remain actively involved in community work.
“Being involved in the community is really important to me,” he said.
“Especially in a place like Canberra, which is small enough that you often feel like you know everybody – that means it’s easy to see and feel the impact we have on each other as well.
“Imagine this long chain of people, all doing something to help the next person – you may not know the people further down that chain, but the impact is still travelling down that line, making everyone’s lives just a little bit better. And I think that’s so cool – because it doesn’t involve a lot of effort to just be a nice human.”
