Editing Education in Australia (section)

===Bilingual education in schools===
[[Bilingual education]] in Australia may be divided into three different types, or target audiences, each having somewhat different purposes: [[Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander]] peoples; immigrant ([[culturally and linguistically diverse|CALD]]) groups; and English speakers looking to add another language to their education. The first two are interested in language maintenance and [[language revitalisation]] for ensuing generations.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lo Bianco|first1=Joseph|last2=Slaughter|first2=Yvette|title=Bilingual and Multilingual Education|chapter=Bilingual Education in Australia|publisher=Springer International Publishing|year=2017|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-02258-1_22|pages=347–360|hdl=11343/247789|isbn=978-3-319-02257-4}}</ref>

The first recorded government support for bilingual education came under the [[Menzies government]] in 1950, when the first government schools for Aboriginal students were opened at four sites in the [[Northern Territory]] (NT), where instruction "should include English Language, Native Language (where appropriate)". Policies and practices varied in the following years, with the first five pilot programs introduced in 1973 after the [[Whitlam government]] came to power and brought in new federal policies.<ref name="Devlin 2020"/>

In the [[Northern Territory]] (the jurisdiction with the greatest proportion of Indigenous people, and many remote communities), bilingual programs for Indigenous students begun with [[Australian Government|Federal Government]] support in the early 1970s. [[Yirrkala School|Yirrkala Community School]] was identified as the first to undergo bilingual accreditation in 1980, and bilingual students outperformed the non-bilingual students. However, by December 1998 the [[Northern Territory Government]] had announced its decision to shift {{AUD|3 million}} away from the 29 bilingual programs to a Territory-wide program teaching English as a second language. Within 12 months though the government had softened its position, after people took to the streets in protest.<ref name="Devlin 2020"/><ref name=areyonga/>

From around 2000, most bilingual programs were allowed to continue under the names "two-way education",<ref>{{cite book|author1=Purdie, N.|author2=Milgate, G.|author3=Bell, H. R.|date=2011|title=Two Way Teaching and Learning: Toward Culturally Reflective and Relevant Education [abstract]|publisher=ACER Press|url=https://research.acer.edu.au/indigenous_education/38|via=ACER Research Repository|isbn=9781742860183|access-date=31 August 2023}}</ref> or "both-ways" learning.<ref>{{cite web|title=Incorporating Indigenous knowledge into your teaching|website=Living Knowledge|url=https://livingknowledge.anu.edu.au/html/educators/07_bothways.htm|access-date=31 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.batchelor.edu.au/about/both-ways-learning/|website=Batchelor Institute|title=Both-ways learning}}</ref> Other programs included language maintenance and language revitalisation in remote schools across the NT.

Then on 24 August 2005, the Minister for Employment, Education and Training announced that the government would be "revitalising bi-lingual education" at 15 Community Education Centres: [[Alekarenge, Northern Territory|Alekarenge]], [[Angurugu, Northern Territory|Angurugu]], [[Borroloola, Northern Territory|Borroloola]], [[Gapuwiyak, Northern Territory|Gapuwiyak]], [[Gunbalanya, Northern Territory|Gunbalanya]], [[Kalkaringi, Northern Territory|Kalkaringi]], [[Lajamanu, Northern Territory|Lajamanu]], [[Maningrida, Northern Territory|Maningrida]], [[Milingimbi Island|Milingimbi]], [[Ramingining, Northern Territory|Ramingining]], [[Ngukurr, Northern Territory|Ngukurr]], Shepherdson College, [[Numbulwar, Northern Territory|Numbulwar]], [[Yirrkala, Northern Territory|Yirrkala]], and [[Yuendumu, Northern Territory|Yuendumu]]. This revitalisation is conceived as part of an effort aimed at "providing effective education from pre-school through to senior secondary at each of the Territory's 15 Community Education Centres".<ref name="Devlin 2020">{{cite web|last=Devlin|first=Brian|title=Government Support for NT Bilingual Education after 1950: A Longer Timeline|website=Friends of Bilingual Learning|date=12 November 2020|url=https://fobl.net.au/index.php/au-KR/history/71-government-support-for-nt-bilingual-education-after-1950-a-longer-timeline|access-date=28 July 2021}}</ref>

However, in October 2008, the first year of [[NAPLAN]] testing,<ref name=areyonga/> despite the NT Indigenous Education Strategic Plan 2006–2009 supporting bilingual instruction, it was mandated by the NT Government that English should be the language of instruction in all NT schools for the first four hours of the school day. After legal challenges, an [[AIATSIS]] Symposium on Bilingual Education in 2009, media coverage and much debate, the policy was replaced by a new policy: "Literacy for Both Worlds", but that was soon withdrawn again. There was intervention by the [[Australian Human Rights Commission]], and in 2012 the [[Australian House of Representatives committees|House of Representatives Standing Committee]] on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs issued a report which included the recommendation that: "Indigenous language education should be introduced to all schools with Aboriginal students, and indigenous languages included as an official [[Closing the Gap]] measure".<ref name="Devlin 2020"/>

Prominent schools involved in bilingual education programs in the NT include [[Yirrkala Community Education Centre]] (CEC) and [[Shepherdson College]] on [[Galiwin'ku]].<ref name="Devlin 2020"/> [[Yirrkala#Education|Yirrkala School]] and its sister school ignored the government directive, and has continued to teach its "both ways" methodology. The students' first language, [[Yolngu Matha]], is taught alongside English. The method has proven effective against reducing the drop-out rate, and in 2020 eight students were the first in their community to graduate year 12 with scores enabling them to attend university. Yirrkala School and its sister school, Laynhapuy Homelands School, are now being looked to as models for learning in remote traditional communities.<ref name=masters>{{cite web|last=Masters|first=Emma|title=At Yirrkala School, bilingual education has become a model for remote Aboriginal learning|website=ABC News|publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]|date=11 July 2021|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-11/nt-bilingual-school-arhem-land-aboriginal-learning/100272960|access-date=16 July 2021}}</ref> Areyonga School, in [[Areyonga, Northern Territory|Areyonga]], was still using both-ways education in August 2023, 50 years since it had begun there, teaching in [[Pitjantjatjara language]] and culture.<ref name=areyonga>{{cite web|last=Spina-Matthews|first=Sarah|title=Fifty years after starting a bilingual education program, Areyonga School looks to the future of 'both-ways' learning|website=ABC News|date=26 August 2023|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-26/nt-bilingual-education-features/102749508|access-date=31 August 2023}}</ref>

In March 2025, Yuendemu School celebrated 50 years of bilingual education. The [[Warlpiri language]] has been taught alongside English first by Tess Napurrurla Ross and then her daughter Theresa Napurrurla Ross over these years.<ref name=fitz2025>{{cite web|last=Fitzpatrick|first=Chris|title=Indigenous trailblazers celebrate 50 years of historic bilingual education program|website=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]]|date=13 March 2025|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-13/yuendumu-50-year-anniversary-bilingual-indigenous-program/105032194?fbclid=IwY2xjawJAUSdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHeX5pYH_U-YD1MMoXvtGE-z06RcG6lG4I1fM6-1tbp5Spl5gmQzlkruABg_aem_NhKzAx-dkXUrqRSu39oFog|access-date=14 March 2025}}</ref>

{{as of|2025}}, bilingual education funding in the Northern Territory has been merged into general school budgets, meaning that each school makes decisions about funding such programmes.<ref name=fitz2025/>