2012 Charlie perkins scholarship recipientsLeft to right: Lilly Brown, Krystal Lockwood and Kyle Turner.
The Charlie Perkins Scholarship Trust is delighted to announce that the British High Commissioner, His Excellency Mr Paul Madden, will today announce the 2012 recipients of the Charlie Perkins Scholarship, a scheme assisting Indigenous Australians to pursue postgraduate study at Cambridge and Oxford Universities.
The three recipients are University of Melbourne graduate Lilly Brown, Griffith University graduate Krystal Lockwood, and Australian National University graduate Kyle Turner. Lilly Brown has been accepted to a Master of Philosophy 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 will study a Master of Science in Evidence Based Social Intervention at Green Templeton College, Oxford. Kyle Turner will commence a Doctor of Philosophy in Public Health at Jesus College, Oxford. They join in the UK the inaugural Charlie Perkins scholars, Paul Gray and Christian Thompson, who started their studies at Oxford University in 2010, becoming the first Indigenous Australians to do so. They also join Rebecca Richards, who last year became the first Australian Indigenous Rhodes Scholar. Jointly supported by the Australian Government, the British Government and Rio Tinto, and managed by the Charlie Perkins Trust, the scholarship programme was established in 2009 in the memory of Dr Charlie Perkins AO, the first Australian Indigenous man to graduate from university. Charlie was inspired to return to Australia to undertake university study after playing soccer against Oxford University. He completed a Bachelor of Arts from Sydney University in 1966. Speaking about the scholarships the Chair of the Charlie Perkins Scholarship Trust, Ms Hetti Perkins said: "I am thrilled to see these extraordinary Indigenous scholars have the opportunity to study at Oxford and Cambridge. It is a wonderful legacy for my dad, Charlie Perkins. We will have a growing alumni group from among the world's leading universities, who will not only be leaders in their professional fields, but will inspire other Indigenous children that the pathway through high school and university and then on to postgraduate study is available to them, as it should be. Education is the most fundamental way to address Indigenous disadvantage and the Charlie Perkins scholars demonstrate there are no limits to the highest academic achievement. I sincerely thank the Australian Government, the British Government, Rio Tinto, the Pratt Foundation, the Development Office and Vice Chancellor at Oxford University, the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, Cambridge Australia Trust and the many others who have made these outstanding awards possible." Dr Tom Calma, a Trust member and former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, will speak at today's announcement. The scholarship is valued at over $53,000 per annum and includes all tuition fees and living expenses. |