National Reconciliation Week may have just wrapped up for 2026, but for Brisbane Catholic Education (BCE), the sentiment rings true year-round.
This year’s theme All In calls on everyone to commit to reconciliation with authenticity, humility, and openness.
An ongoing commitment
Ngutana-Lui is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Studies Centre in Inala which was established by BCE in 1989 in conjunction with the Aboriginal and Islander Catholic Council and the local community.
It provides opportunities for students, their teachers, and people of all ages to increase their awareness, appreciation and understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories, cultures and spiritualities.
Ngutana-Lui Aboriginal Cultural Tutor Zhanae Dodd said reconciliation was an ongoing commitment to relationships, learning and action.
“When schools genuinely invest in supporting our mob, it creates spaces where culture is valued rather than treated as an add on,” Ms Dodd, a Ghungalu, Garingbal, Birri, Wiri, Kaanju and Tahitian woman said.
“People do not need to know everything to begin – small, consistent actions in classrooms, workplaces and communities can have a lasting impact.”
Teaching scholarships empower First Nations people
A BCE Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teaching scholarship helped former BCE student Ryan St John gain his Bachelor of Education.
Mr St John, who is now a Year 3 teacher at St Flannan’s School, Zillmere, attended St Peter’s Primary School and St Columban’s College both in Caboolture.
“I’d encourage other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to consider similar pathways into education, particularly through BCE’s supported programs,” Mr St John said.
“The good thing about this pathway into teaching is that you get experience and support from other educators.
“I didn’t realise how much education impacts the First Nations community until I was a teacher – teaching really is a career that gives back to the community.”
