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Service Learning in Indigenous Communities
Our Service Learning in Indigenous Communities program provides exciting interdisciplinary opportunities to listen, learn and apply your knowledge to help address priority challenges with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
What is Service Learning?
Service Learning draws together genuine community aspiration with the planning and provision of services. It fosters meaningful connections between people and place. The program centres around listening and sharing knowledge for mutually beneficial outcomes.
The Service Learning in Indigenous Communities (SLIC) program allows you to work on essential projects co-designed and directed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. As a participant in the program, you will be able to extend your cultural competency.
Working directly with leading voices of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, the SLIC program is a model for what is possible through open dialogue and cooperation.
What's involved
The SLIC program is an Industry and Community Project that provides credit towards your degree. Entry is now available to undergraduate students as an Industry and Community Project (ICPU) 3000 level unit of study.
You’ll work on real-world projects that have been prioritised and identified by Indigenous communities and apply your academic perspective, while gaining valuable experience working across disciplinary boundaries.
Ideal candidates will have strong communication skills, empathy, agility and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
As part of the SLIC program, you’ll:
- deepen your understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's history, values and perspectives and the ‘causes of the causes’ of inequality in housing and social outcomes
- develop skills in working in strengths-based, culturally empowering ways as you plan, prepare and engage with your SLIC team and community
- learn about the community with the community
- design interviews with cultural sensitivity
- engage with and visit a host community
- attend 3 hours a week of scheduled class time
- participate in an Aboriginal personal development and cultural competency program
- submit individual and collaborative assessments.
An alternative unit of study may also be available via some postgraduate programs. Please email slic.info@sydney.edu.au for more information.
Benefits of the program
Service Learning in Indigenous Communities (SLIC) is a flagship project of the Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor Indigenous Strategy and Services. SLIC embodies the University’s commitment to embedding Aboriginal world views beyond the boundaries of the University campus.
In this program, you will use active listening to gain an understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of being, knowing, and doing and challenge your assumptions about the ownership and nature of knowledge.
As each project is led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, you will be actively engaged in an authentic process of collaboration.
“Our group varies across a huge number of disciplines from linguistics to media to philosophy to law (even students who are on exchange) and beyond, all brought together with a common passion to learn more about Indigenous Australia. Even though we are working remotely due to COVID-19 restrictions we were still given the great honour of working with some amazing local Indigenous community organisations, guided by truly passionate academics, on some really important real-world projects throughout the semester. So if you’re a little bit hesitant about the application process, my biggest advice would be - apply anyway for a truly valuable experience!”
- Genevieve Neich, undergraduate student
For more information about SLIC, check out our 2024 Engagement Australia Awards video.
Girringun Aboriginal Corporation: Listening to Aboriginal Community Voices
The 2025 SLIC will be delivered as an Industry and Community Projects Unit (ICPU). You can find more information about these units and how to apply to them on our ICPU page.
Students will be working in Aboriginal communities in north Queensland with University and Community supervisors and Girringun Aboriginal Corporation (GAC). GAC was established in 1996 by Elders of its nine Traditional Owner member groups in north Queensland. GAC proudly serves its membership of around 800 Bandjin, Djiru, Girramay, Gugu Badhun, Gulngay, Jirrbal, Nywaigi, Warungnuand Warrgamaypeople and their families and communities.
2025 Projects
The work of Girringun Aboriginal Corporation is diverse and dynamic, and they are looking to expand their footprint in areas including community services, environment and marine protection, the Indigenous arts sector, biodiversity and education. Incoming SLIC students will work with community on Country as they actively engage in collaborations which integrate First Nations knowledge, together with real-life problem solving and learning.
The views and opinions emerging from community reviews of draft reports of 2024 SLIC student projects are contributing to our growing understanding of the impact and significance of the recently established SLIC-Girringun partnership and inform the co-design process for 2025 SLIC projects.
As well as acknowledging and incorporating new learning from ten student projects that have already been completed, our 2025 SLIC projects will build explicitly on previous SLIC student projects which examined (1) the applicability and principles of the Case Law of previous compensation claims and settlement agreements, the influence of the current political environment (post-referendum) and potential sources of funding to progress a claim and (2) possible structures for a Trust, ways to engage young people in a potential case and examples of services that could be established with resulting resources should a case be successful.
In 2025, small student teams will support Girringun’s Process Unite Team to prepare for an upcoming Authorisation Meeting of its nine member tribes, by helping to investigate social, cultural, economic, policy, environmental, legal and other considerations in preparing a compensation claim on behalf of its Traditional Owner Member Groups.
Project 1: Develop a preliminary framework for discussions and negotiations with the Queensland Government on Native Title Compensation. This project aims to develop plain English/accessible guidelines on preparing evidence on cultural loss for Traditional Owner member groups, identify other materials and resources to support a planned knowledge and information sharing process prior to regional level authorisation meetings and develop a preliminary plan to pursue compensation for the extinguishment and impairment of native title rights to assist an authorised negotiating committee to facilitate discussions and eventual negotiations with the Queensland Government on Native Title Compensation.
Project 2: Preliminary planning and development of a Cultural Mapping Database. Explore stakeholder wishes, thoughts and ideas about options for a cultural mapping data base to support future Native Title Compensation negotiations and consider the feasibility of conducting a mapping skills audit/training needs assessment for Girringun staff and members. Tasks include identifying and documenting the range and scope of available data sets and types of archival information and create an annotated list and investigating the scope for mapping existing land and sea country usage and impacts with a view to quantifying percentages of the lands within the boundaries of each TO group that are currently taken up with agriculture/other uses and identifying potential compensation implications for TO groups.
Project 3: Interviews and facilitated discussions with the nine Traditional Owner groups in relation to a proposed regional Native Title Compensation claim on behalf of their members. Students will help to prepare for and facilitate meetings on Country with Traditional Owners from across the Girringun region. The purpose of meetings is to provide deeper understanding of the perspectives and aspirations of the Traditional Owner groups by exploring what leadership means, the barriers that hold people back from achieving their full potential, emotional connections with Country, the kind of future people would like for themselves, their families, their Traditional Owner groups and other Aboriginal people, and exploring how what is shared can be used to strengthen connections between the nine Traditional Owner groups and Girringun, in particular through Process Unite.
About Process Unite
Process Unite is a standalone initiative and culturally led way forward to reaffirm the unified approach that founded the Girringun Aboriginal Corporation. Endorsed by the GAC Board in 2018, Process Unite aims to further unify GAC’s Bandjin, Djiru, Girramay, Gugu Badhun, Gulngay, Jirrbal, Nywaigi, Warrgamay and Warungnu member tribal groups to achieve positive and beneficial change for all. Learn more about the Process Unite initiative.
For questions about the SLIC ICPU please contact slic.info@sydney.edu.au.
Process Unite: Students worked with community stakeholders to provide a collective response to key political issues and discussions, including Voice to Parliament, Path to Treaty, and opportunities to negotiate compensation (Semester 1 and 2).
Traditional Use of Marine Resources (TUMRA) Agreement: This project set out to identify and develop educational materials to strengthen cultural knowledge of the TUMRA among young Traditional Owners and explore ways the TUMRA’s governance structure could contribute to improving Aboriginal maritime protocols and the compliance powers of Girringun Sea Rangers (Semester 2).
Girringun Aboriginal Arts Centre: Students worked closely with the Arts Centre Manager, Elders and young people to explore opportunities for young people to contribute to the growth and development of the Girringun Aboriginal Art Centre through youth arts and culture projects (Semester 2).
Strengthening Girringun’s Financial Future: This project, developed through close engagement with Girringun’s leaders, Elders and youth, explored how Girringun can achieve self determination for future generations through sustainable financial development which maintains cultural authenticity (Semester 2).
Girringun Junior Rangers Program: SLIC students helped to evaluate the success of the first Junior Rangers Program with local schools. They also contributed to business plan development to support a range of Australian Curriculum-compliant and culturally-assured GAC educational services (Semester 1 and 2).
Indigenous Protected Areas (IPA): The Girringun Region IPA encompasses diverse tenures within the land and sea countries of eight First Nations Traditional Owner groups. Students supported the IPA Coordinator in a scoping and review process to define new priorities and actions for the next Girringun Region IPA Management Plan (Semester 1).
Wabu-Jananyu Rainforest Bounty-GAC Venture: An Indigenous-owned social enterprise specialising in revegetation, plant and fruit sales and consumer packaged goods. Students contributed to a new social enterprise business case grounded in sustainability and cultural preservation, with a mandate to protect Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property rights (Semester 1).
Strategic Communications Plan: Students contributed to a review of the organisation's communications plan. This plan is designed to support Girringun’s Art Centre and Keeping Place, Biodiversity and Native Plant Nursery, Indigenous Protected Areas, Ranger Program and Traditional Use of Marine Resources Agreement programs (Semester 1).
Other important information
What is expected: We ask all students interested in SLIC to recognise that the material we cover and the things you hear and learn about the impacts of colonisation, trans-generational trauma and experiences of extreme weather events and climate change can be confronting. The SLIC Team acknowledges this and seeks to prepare you as a team to be empowering, agile, resilient, and trusting of the processes we use. SLIC applies ways of working that are like those used by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people during centuries of resistance.
Aboriginal Family Wellbeing Empowerment Program: You will experience topics from the first stage of the highly respected and researched Aboriginal Family Wellbeing Empowerment Program during your unit of study. This includes personal exploration and helps build your understandings on how to work cohesively and successfully as a student group and with your host community.
Weekly sessions: Each week you will be provided with a pre-recorded lecture (one hour) and readings covering key topic areas to give you a broad understanding of the structural and climate change challenges that Aboriginal people face in attaining good housing, health, education and employment. The weekly 3-hour tutorial workshop sessions will allow you to work with your colleagues in the planning of your project and to analyse and report your findings.
The GAC north Queensland field trip: Semester 1 2025 will require you to travel as a group to Girringun Aboriginal Corporation located in north Queensland for final preparations and to conduct your community project. The cost of flights, ground transport and accommodation will be covered by the SLIC program. You will need to purchase your own food and make a small contribution to help cover field trip expenses. Local groceries stores are close to our accommodation and onsite cooking facilities are available. A letter regarding your absence from the University will be provided for you to share with your other unit of study coordinators to allow any arrangements and considerations to be applied.
Eligibility
SLIC is delivered in partnership with the ICPU program, so please check the shell units that are listed on the ICPU website and make sure that you are eligible to undertake one of the listed shell units.
If you think that you may be interested and would like more information, email slic.info@sydney.edu.au.
How to apply
Students will be working directly with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities; therefore students are required to complete an interview process to partake in this ICPU.
- Check your eligibility to enrol in a 3000 level ICPU shell unit.
- Read the information carefully on this page to ensure you understand what is required from participants of this project.
- Send the following to the Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor Indigenous Strategy and Services (slic.info@sydney.edu.au):
- Your CV and Academic Transcript
- One page statement detailing the reasons why you’re interested in being part of the program.
- When you lodge your EOI, the SLIC team will email you to arrange an interview prior to project commencement.
- After interview, the SLIC team will advise if you have gained a place in the program.
- Successful applicants will need to enrol in a 3000 level ICPU shell unit as per instructions on the ICPU website.
- Once enrolled, please notify the SLIC team so that they can organise registration for you in Sydney Student.
For any questions regarding the SLIC ICPU please contact slic.info@sydney.edu.au.
Last updated: 23 January 2025
