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Welcome to the Roberta Sykes Indigenous Education Foundation website. Here you can learn more about the Foundation, the Scholarships, news on past and present Scholars, and how you can support the Foundation's work.

High-achieving Indigenous Australians awarded
scholarships to Cambridge, London School of Economics, the Royal College of Art & Oxfor

On Wednesday 22 August 2018, six Indigenous Australians will receive scholarships totalling more than $500,000 to pursue postgraduate study at four of the world’s leading universities: Cambridge, London School of Economics, the Royal College of Art and Oxford.

British High Commissioner to Australia, Her Excellency Menna Rawlings CMG, will present the 2018 Charlie Perkins and Roberta Sykes Scholarships in Canberra, alongside Richard Potok, CEO of the Aurora Education Foundation, and Executive Director of both the Charlie Perkins Scholarship Trust and the Roberta Sykes Indigenous Education Foundation.

“Seven years ago, there had never been an Indigenous Australian studying for a full-time degree at either Oxford or Cambridge universities,” explains Richard Potok. “Now, thanks to the Charlie Perkins and Roberta Sykes Scholarships, with the ongoing support of the Australian and British governments, there have been 40 Indigenous postgraduates accepted to Oxford and Cambridge. This includes three of this year’s recipients, all accepted on the basis of academic merit. We are also delighted to continue in our partnership with London School of Economics this year. We are incredibly proud of this year’s recipients, whose hard work and dedication to academic excellence is a testament to the pioneering founders of these Scholarships.”

Four of the six 2018 Scholarship winners were participants on Aurora’s Indigenous Scholars International Study Tour, which provides high achieving Indigenous students the opportunity to gain insight into the experience of undertaking postgraduate study at premier institutions abroad and generates a natural pipeline of potential scholarship applicants.

The Scholarships are designed to support Indigenous Australians who have the potential to become leaders in their field of study and in their communities.

This year’s Charlie Perkins Scholars are: Australia National University and University of Southern Queensland graduate Casey Millward and University of Sydney graduate Geoffrey Winters.

The Roberta Sykes Scholars are: University of Canberra graduate Frederick Leftwich, Monash University graduate Jarrod Hughes, University of Queensland graduate Jordan English and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology graduate Michael McMahon.

High Commissioner Rawlings said, “The British Government is immensely proud to support these two programmes that give Indigenous Australians the opportunity to study at some of the UK’s top universities. These scholarships are a great example of the modern partnership between Australia and the UK, as our two nations work together to develop the leaders of the future. We all look forward to seeing what extraordinary contributions these incredible scholars will make to Australia’s future.”

The Charlie Perkins Scholarship Trust and the Roberta Sykes Indigenous Education Foundation are each named in honour of visionary leaders who believed in the power of education.

This year’s Scholars are jointly supported by the Australian Government, the British Government through the Chevening program, Cambridge Australia Scholarships, the Cambridge Commonwealth, European & International Trust, Balliol College Oxford, the Indigenous Land Council, London School of Economics, the Royal College of Art and other private philanthropic supporters.

2018 Roberta Sykes Scholarship Recipients

Left to right: Frederick Leftwich, Jordan English, Jarrod Hughes and Michael McMahon

The Roberta Sykes Indigenous Education Foundation is pleased to announce the 2018 recipients of the Roberta Sykes Scholarships.

Supporting Indigenous students for over 25 years, the Roberta Sykes Indigenous Education Foundation offers a number of students the opportunity to undertake postgraduate study at leading overseas universities each year.

This year's Scholars are: University of Canberra graduate Frederick Leftwich, University of Queensland graduate Jordan English, Monash graduate Jarrod Hughes, and RMIT graduate Michael McMahon. They are jointly supported by the Australian Government, the British Government through the Chevening program, London School of Economics and Denton Corker Marshall Architects.

Fred is a proud Aboriginal man from the Butchulla, Kuku Yalanji and Doomadgee communities and is also of Vanuatu heritage. He will undertake an MSc in Human Rights at the London School of Economics. He has completed a Bachelor of Social Sciences in Indigenous Studies from the University of Canberra.

A descendant of the Butchulla people of K'Gari (Fraser Island), Jordan will undertake a Bachelor of Civil Laws at Oxford. Jordan graduated with a combined Bachelor of Commerce and Law with First Class Honours in Law from the University of Queensland in 2016.

Jarrod will undertake a MSc in Social Policy (Research) at the London School of Economics. A Taungurung man from the Kulin Nation in central Victoria, Jarrod graduated with a combined Bachelor of Arts and Law with First Class Honours in Law from Monash University in 2014.

Michael, who is descendant of the Bundjalung people of North-East NSW, will undertake a Master of Arts in Architecture at the Royal College of Art in London. Michael graduated with a Bachelor of Architectural Design from RMIT in 2014.

British High Commissioner to Australia, Her Excellency Menna Rawlings CMG, will present the 2018 Roberta Sykes Scholarships in Canberra on 22 August, alongside Richard Potok, Executive Director of the Roberta Sykes Indigenous Education Foundation and CEO of the Aurora Education Foundation.

2017 Roberta Sykes Scholarship Recipients

Left to right: Baringa Kukoyi, Julia Moriarty, Charles Prouse, Ruby Warber and Alison Whittaker

The Roberta Sykes Indigenous Education Foundation is pleased to announce the recipients of the Roberta Sykes Scholarships, a scheme assisting Indigenous Australians to pursue postgraduate study at leading overseas universities.

The five recipients are: University of Queensland graduate Baringa Kukoyi, UNSW graduate Julia Moriarty, Western Sydney University graduate Charles Prouse, Australian Catholic University graduate Ruby Warber and University of Technology graduate Alison Whittaker.

Our 2017 Scholars are jointly supported by the Australian Government, Boston Consulting Group, the British Government through the Chevening program, Cambridge Australia Scholarships, the Cambridge Commonwealth, European & International Trust, the Katrina Dawson Foundation, London School of Economics and Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford.

Speaking about the scholarships, the Chair of the Roberta Sykes Foundation, Peter Waters said:

“Twenty years ago, Indigenous scholars were confined to a narrow range of disciplines. Today however, scholars are branching out across a variety of fields.

“The Roberta Sykes Scholarships promote the vision of a better future in which Indigenous people can assume positive roles across a spectrum of career and leadership opportunities.

“We acknowledge that it is largely due to the generosity of our donors that our recipients are able to realise their aspiration of overseas study.”

The scholarships to Cambridge and Oxford cover all fees and living expenses, and are valued at over $70,000 for the period of one year.