Reconciliation and Social Justice Library
Reconciliation and Social Justice Library
4.40 The homelands movement is making a contribution to language maintenance. This is where small clan groups move out of larger communities to outstations or homeland centres. This allows them to live a more traditional lifestyle, usually on traditional land. Often the community they move out of comprises several language groups, where it is more difficult to keep each language strong.
4.41 An important feature of homeland education is that the community decides what aspects of ATSI culture will be taught and by whom. This control allows the school to be part of the community rather than a separate non-ATSI institution. School attendances tend to be higher as a result 59 , although access to full time schooling is often not available.