Utilities
Meet the winners of the Charlie Perkins Scholarship 2012
Jane Kentmann
30th May 2012
The British High Commissioner to Australia, His Excellency Mr Paul Madden, announced today, in the presence of the Minister for Tertiary Education, Senator Chris Evans, the 2012 recipients of the Charlie Perkins Scholarship, a scholarship that assists Indigenous Australians to pursue postgraduate study at Oxford and Cambridge Universities.
The scholarship was established in 2009 in memory of Dr Charlie Perkins AO, the first Indigenous Australian man to graduate from university. Valued at over £33,000 (AU$53,000) per annum and including all living expenses and tuition fees, the scholarship programme is managed by the Charlie Perkins Scholarship Trust and jointly supported by the Australian Government, the British Government (through the Chevening Scholarships Programme), Rio Tinto, the Pratt Foundation, the Development Office and Vice Chancellor at the University of Oxford, the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, the Cambridge Australia Trust, the McCusker Foundation and various other philanthropies and individuals.
Mr Paul Madden said, “The British Government is honoured to be involved in this extremely worthwhile scholarship initiative and I congratulate this year’s three Charlie Perkins Scholars who have each shown exceptional leadership qualities in their academic and personal lives. They are going to be studying at two of the finest universities in the world. I am sure they will benefit enormously from the experience, which will help them make a great contribution to Australian life in their future careers.”
The three recipients, who will commence their chosen postgraduate studies at Oxford or Cambridge Universities later this year, are:
Lilly Brown
Lilly is a Gumbangerrii woman, also proud of her Scottish and English heritage. She is currently completing Honours in Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne (she completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Western Australia (UWA). Lilly’s interests lie in the area of knowledge production and dissemination, educational policy development, the link between knowledge and power, and the value of education as a tool to affect positive social change. Lilly has been accepted to the MPhil in Politics, Development and Democratic Education at Trinity College, Cambridge, making her the first Indigenous Australian to undertake a postgraduate or undergraduate degree at Cambridge.
Krystal Lockwood
Krystal is a Gumbangerrii and Dhungutti woman. She has just finished her Criminology and Criminal Justice degree with 1st class honours at Griffith University. Krystal has a passion for criminal justice issues and criminological research. Her honours thesis considered the impact of race on judicial decisions to imprison and Krystal is keen to make a difference in addressing the over-representation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system in Australia. She has been accepted to the MSc in Evidence Based Social Intervention at Green Templeton College, Oxford.
Kyle Turner
Kyle is an Aboriginal man of Wiradjuri and Irish descent. He currently works as a Senior Epidemiologist and Lead Researcher for Queensland Health in the Deadly Ears Program and holds a Bachelor of Archaeological Practice (1st class honours) and a Masters of Applied Epidemiology from the Australian National University (ANU). Kyle is looking forward to building on his already considerable research skills and to improving the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. He has been accepted to the DPhil in Public Health at Jesus College, Oxford.
Speaking about the scholarships, Chair of the Charlie Perkins Scholarship Trust, Hetti Perkins said, “It is truly momentous to see three more inspiring Indigenous graduates on their way to Oxford and Cambridge. These amazing, high achieving students will make a great contribution to their chosen fields and will be role models and mentors to the increasing number of Indigenous students pursuing higher education.”
Following the announcement, the High Commissioner and the recipients met for morning tea at Parliament House with the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin, and Minister for Tertiary Education, Senator Chris Evans, who each congratulated the scholars on their outstanding achievements