The University’s Strategic Plan Making a Difference - The 2025 Agenda commits to “Championing diversity and equality of opportunity, respecting people from all nations, cultures, and backgrounds”. 

The appointment of the University’s first Pro Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous) was made in 2020. This position is responsible for providing strategic leadership and influence across Flinders and the Indigenous higher education sector. This was an important strategic and symbolic appointment aligning the University nationally in advancing senior Indigenous leadership across the sector. 

In 2020, the University established its first Indigenous Advisory Council, tasked with providing advice to the Vice-Chancellor. Additionally, three Senior Elders-On-Campus were appointed: Dr Uncle Lewis Yarlupurka O’Brien, a Kaurna Elder based at Bedford Park; Dr Uncle Richard ‘Balang/Japaljarri’ Fejo, a Larrakia Elder based at Darwin; and Dr Aunty Pat Miller, an Arrernte Elder based at Alice Springs. These distinguished Elders collectively contribute their knowledges and wisdom to guide us towards reconciliation. Furthermore, in 2022, Uncle Richard Fejo was bestowed with an Honorary Doctorate in recognition of his cultural knowledge, authority, leadership, and community engagement at Flinders University. To drive activities of the first, Innovate RAP (2020-2022), RAP working groups were established across all colleges and portfolios. The Vice Chancellor’s RAP Awards were developed in 2021 recognising the outstanding efforts of individuals and teams in leading activities or projects that promote reconciliation. 

The University has implemented Indigenous governance mechanisms, comprising several committees to oversee various aspects of the University's Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student success. The Reconciliation Action Plan Oversight Committee (RAPOC) oversees the implementation, monitoring, and reporting of the RAP. The Tarrkarri-ana Committee is responsible for monitoring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student success, while the Indigenous Workforce Strategy Committee monitors the implementation of the Indigenous Workforce Strategy. Additionally, the Elders Network provides cultural leadership on University initiatives. 

Since the launch of the inaugural Innovate RAP in 2020, there has been a significant increase in Indigenous student enrolments at the university, growing from 1.4% to 1.57% in 2022, marking an overall increase of 0.2%. The Indigenous Higher Degree Research student intake also increased by 27%. To further improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander enrolments, the University has established Indigenous Student Success Targets (2022-2025) which aim to increase rates of commencement (by 3%), completion (by 1.6%), and progression (by 80%). Additionally, the University is working towards a cumulative increase in the overall participation rate to 1.6%.

Flinders University’s Indigenous Workforce Strategy (2022-2025) was endorsed in April 2022, followed by the appointment of an Indigenous Employment Coordinator, a key deliverable from the inaugural RAP. Following this, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff numbers increased from 37 to 71 which was an impressive 92% increase on pre-RAP employment numbers. The new Indigenous Workforce Strategy commits Flinders to increasing Indigenous employment to 3% (full time equivalent) by 2025. Four strategic priorities underpin this target – Attraction and Recruitment, Culture and Retention, Development and Advancement, and Governance and Leadership. 

In 2021, three Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff members received academic promotions, including a Level E (Professor) and two Level D (Associate Professor) positions. As of the end of that year, the University employed 11 senior academic staff who identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander: Five at Level C, four at Level D, one at Level E, and one as Pro Vice Chancellor. By the end of 2022, this momentum continued with an increase to 13 senior academic staff, including four at Level C, five at Level D, and four at Level E, as a result of internal promotions and new appointments.

The University proudly demonstrates the prominence and contribution of Indigenous leadership with a total of four Professors and five Associate Professors. Additionally, the development of an Indigenous Research Strategy (IRS) in collaboration with the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) marks a significant achievement. This initiative represents the first of its kind at the University and serves as a unique commitment to redressing social transformation and reconciliation through a robust, ethical, and sustainable Indigenous research agenda.

The strategy is built on four key priorities. These include Priority 1: Research Excellence; Priority 2: Research Reciprocity and Impact; Priority 3: Indigenous Research Capacity and Leadership; and Priority 4: Research Responsibility. Moreover, the College of Medicine and Public Health has created a specific Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Strategy (2022-2025) which outlines a framework for research, teaching, and impact within the college.

Acknowledging the importance of learning from and with Country, Flinders University has constructed an outdoor cultural gathering space called Yungkurrinthi Inparrila. This space has been created to promote cultural belonging, community, ceremony, celebration, and the incorporation of Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing. The name Yungkurrinthi refers to the act of "imparting knowledge, communication, and information," while Inparrila translates to "meeting place" in the Kaurna language.

Yungkurrinthi Inparrila holds significant importance to the Flinders community, as it serves as a place of healing and well-being, where people can come to grieve, and a space that brings together Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities with the broader community to honour and recognise Country, cultural knowledge, and learning. The space is unique in that, unlike a building or office, it is directly connected to Country.

In recognising that genuine institutional and social transformation requires sustained efforts to authentically integrate reconciliation into everyday activities, Flinders has chosen to embark on a second Innovate RAP. The university recognises that fostering a community of critical thinkers who share this vision is vital to progress. As part of this process, Flinders acknowledges the need to promote understanding of decolonisation (reversing the impacts of colonisation), anti-racism strategies, and power relations that stem from ongoing colonisation. 

The University acknowledges that as a nation we are at a pivotal time in the call for constitutional reform and the campaign to enshrine an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice in the Australian Constitution. The foundation of truth telling ought not retraumatise and add to the emotional labour of First Peoples, and therefore the shared weightbearing of colonial Australia must involve genuine critical reflection of race relations within this Country.

As a site of knowledge production through research, teaching and learning we recognise we have influence in shaping current and future citizens and leaders. The student community are important influencers of the University to enact the pillars of reconciliation and contribute to dynamic, transformative social change. 

Flinders seeks to create an environment that is culturally inclusive across all aspects of its business, and to increase respectful recognition, knowledge and awareness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, histories, and contributions. We recognise Indigenous peoples as self-determining who can lead change for the benefit of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and more broadly, society.