Sign this petition to make 'Aboriginal People' or ABOR1000 a core unit at Notre Dame University.

ABOR1000 is a unit that "aims at promoting, from a historical perspective, an understanding of the Aboriginal people of modern Australia" (as per course outline).  Something that is unfortunately not common knowledge among the students of Notre Dame or Australians. Most students lack knowledge, and therefore understanding, of a post-colonial history and ongoing matters regarding Indigenous Australians. How can we, as scholars studying any course, truly know ourselves and our country if the misinformation and silence continue?

In ABOR1000, we learned about truth-telling, which is, in our opinion, way overdue. This truth-telling aligns with the key strategies to achieve Objects as a Catholic university, particularly point four which states the special focus of advancing Aboriginal people. What better way to do that than bringing information and truth to all that study at Notre Dame?

This semester, we learned about OUR shared history, not THEIR history. The insights we have obtained through lectures, recommended readings, indigenous guest speakers, and panels have been invaluable for our development as students, from archaeology and science to counselling and teaching. Any future professional would benefit from this unit.

ABOR1000 provides students with the confidence to be part of the conversation, rather than passive listeners. The value of completing ABOR1000 will translate in future interactions with Indigenous Australians, future workplaces, and in future Australia, where we hopefully will one day achieve a country that "has come together after a struggle" (as per the Uluru Statement of the Heart, 2017).

Therefore, replacing one of the existing core units with ABOR1000 or potentially combining the three existing core units and adding ABOR1000 to the curriculum for all students is beneficial to future Notre Dame graduates. It is time to reflect on the current core curriculum. Hopefully, within a decade, the core units can be re-evaluated when the information taught in ABOR1000 is common knowledge.