Studying @ Batchelor

Batchelor Institute offers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people the chance to study a wide range of courses designed to help them gain the skills and qualifications needed to find work and to help with the development of their communities, particularly those following traditional ways of life.

All the Institute’s courses are developed with the help of many people from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, and employer groups.

During talks with the Institute, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have said it is important to keep their own cultures strong, as well as learn about mainstream Australian culture. They have said they want to develop the knowledge and skills they need to operate successfully in both cultures.

Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have said they want future generations to have better employment prospects and more say in social, economic and political decision-making.

These talks have helped Batchelor Institute develop courses that allow students to strengthen their own cultural knowledge systems while learning new knowledge and skills from the Western academic system. This is often known as both ways education, because it combines traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge and ways of learning with Western educational traditions.

The staff at Batchelor Institute are committed to the principles of access and equity for all Indigenous Australians.

WHERE YOU LEARN

Batchelor offers short blocks of study on-campus combined with study at home. This allows you to keep strong links with your communities and study some parts of your course in your community so that do not have to leave your home community for months at a time for study.

Some students leave their communities for one to three weeks workshops or classes at the Institute’s campuses in Batchelor or at Annexes in Darwin, Nhulunbuy, Katherine and Tennant. Some workshops are also held in other communities. Follow this link to see our current study locations.

ALCOHOL AND DRUGS

At our residential campuses we provide a safe, no-alcohol environment to support you in your learning journey.
In accordance with clear and consistent messages from your communities, the Institute Council has ruled that alcohol and other drugs may not be brought into, or consumed within, Institute facilities, including the student and staff residences. This rule applies to all Institute facilities including Institute vehicles.