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Ricky Grace: Women are the backbone of our communities

Ricky GraceThe West Australian
Illustration: Don Lindsay
Camera IconIllustration: Don Lindsay Credit: The West Australian

My experiences mentoring indigenous kids had a profound effect on my life, so much so that in 2004, I founded Role Models and Leaders Australia — a not-for-profit organisation, which Girls Academy is an initiative of.

Girls Academy is Australia’s leading provider of school-based programs for indigenous girls.

It is a national organisation that works with schools and communities to help girls realise their full potential.

In short, Girls Academy is transforming the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls.

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Ricky Grace.
Camera IconRicky Grace.

I would like to see WA close the gap in the space that I work in — mentoring and educating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls.

I truly believe that if you want to succeed in life, you need a good education.

I’m a firm believer that education is the key to addressing the other Close the Gap targets.

I’d like to see equity of support and outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls right across the State.

Girls Academy has four key goals: increase school attendance; encourage personal and academic achievement; improve graduation rates; and facilitate planning for study and careers after high school.

We pursue these aims through a comprehensive program that covers mentoring, health and wellbeing, sport, resilience, community leadership, professional and academic networking, and cultural connection activities.

My mum really believed that a good education was the key to realising your full potential.

She is the primary reason I am the person I am today.

Women are the backbone of our communities and Closing the Gap for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls in education will get us closer to having stronger and healthier communities across WA. This is my one big hope for our State.

I feel privileged to call Western Australia my home and I would love nothing more than to see this great State lead the country in the education space.

One of the strengths of Girls Academy is that it is community led.

We work with local communities to design and deliver a program that works for the girls in that community, and more than 70 per cent of our staff are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander women.

This is a model that has worked for us for the past 15 years.

In that time, we have seen more than 11,000 students participate in the program and go on to succeed post-school.

I believe that our approach works for our students because we first seek advice from the community on what the girls need most.

One day, I would love to see an Australia where the gap has been closed, where a program like Girls Academy isn’t needed. But right now, our students need this program — and it’s working.

As long as it works, I’ll keep doing it.

On a practical level,I would love to see our roads and public transport options improved so we can better connect people and places.

In peak-hour traffic, it can take close to 90 minutes to get from Aubin Grove to the CBD — and that’s just the one-way commute that many families have to make.

Perth is a growing city, sprawling north and south along the coast. We all need to travel to work, home, university, and everywhere in between.

I’d like to see a State that is connected — where people are connected and where places are connected — not just through roads and public transport, but also through better understanding of each other and through cultural inclusivity.

A more integrated and well-connected State will improve the quality of our lives and of course the quality of our environment.

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