The Victorian Government is supporting a new team of specialist teachers to help revive language on country and in classrooms across Victoria as part of the preservation of endangered Aboriginal languages.

The nine Aboriginal Language Teachers are the inaugural graduates of the Certificate IV in Teaching an Endangered Aboriginal Language course at Swinburne University of Technology, funded by the Government to promote and support Koorie culture and tradition in Victoria.

The pilot course was developed with Aboriginal groups and led by linguistic expert and Taungurung Elder Aunty Lee Healy who equipped the teachers with the culturally informed skills to teach and preserve five languages in schools, kindergartens and Aboriginal communities.

Among the graduates is Wadawurrung woman Corrina Eccles who advocates for the connectedness of language to people, place and country and will teach Wadawurrung people at Moolap Primary School.

To inspire more Victorians to use Aboriginal languages, new Certificate II and III in Learning an Australian First Nations Language courses will be offered free to Koorie students under a Victorian Budget 2021/22 investment of more than $2.7 million over four years.

The revival and preservation of language is part of the Marrung: Aboriginal Education Plan 2016-2026, promoting Koorie culture and tradition in Victoria and supporting reconciliation and social justice reforms.

Since 2014, the Government has made a record $3.2 billion investment to rebuild TAFE and support universities and higher education to ensure Victorians have access to high quality education and rewarding career pathways.