About Us

Yooroang Garang is an Indigenous Student Support Unit within the Faculty of Health Sciences. The Dharug words “Yooroang Garang” meaning "strong place", sum up what we see as our central purpose: to be a strong place for Indigenous tertiary education, to provide a supportive academic and social environment for students and to be a place which generates positive change in health care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.

Yooroang Garang is committed to the empowerment and self-determination of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through education, by increasing opportunities for them to participate in the University as students, educators, administrators and researchers and by providing sufficient support mechanisms to ensure successful outcomes at all levels.

Relationships within the University

As a unit within the Faculty of Health Sciences, the staff and Director of Yooroang Garang report to the Faculty Executive staff and the Dean of the Faculty.

However, Yooroang Garang maintains a close relationship with other staff and organisational units responsible for the provision of support for Indigenous students. In particular Yooroang Garang works closely with staff of the Koori Centre on the Camperdown Campus of the University. The Directors of the Koori Centre and Yooroang Garang meet regularly to discuss issues of program management:

• develop the annual Indigenous Education Policy for the University
• develop strategic plans for marketing
• develop policies for indigenous student support
• develop proposal for annual scholarship funding

Staff from both centres work collegially on many shared activities such as marketing and Recruitment and in the administration of the Cadigal program.

The Director of Yooroang Garang is a member of the Indigenous Education Advisory Committee. This committee is presently chaired by Professor Derrick Armstrong and has representation from all Faculties of the University as well as executive staff from Student Support Services, Equal Opportunity, Institute for Teaching and Learning and external organisations such as DET.