At the beginning of this month, I was honoured to accept, on behalf of the British High Commission, the Public Affairs Asia Gold Standard Award for Diplomatic Engagement for our work supporting scholarships for Indigenous Australian students.
We have been supporting the Charlie Perkins Scholarship Trust since 2010 through the FCO’s Chevening programme, and recently extended our partnership with the Aurora Foundation to include the Roberta Sykes Indigenous Education Foundation. This year our contribution went to supporting six extremely talented and inspiring Indigenous scholars studying at top universities in the UK. We are delighted to welcome them to our global family of Chevening scholars.
I am particularly proud that our involvement with this programme helps to support a new generation of confident and ambitious Indigenous leaders who return to Australia as inspirational role models and help to effect real, positives changes in their communities.
I have been working for the BHC for 19 years. I joined as an Entry Clearance Officer issuing visas in what was a very much a busy, pressured, target-driven job – a position that at times required that I make life changing decisions for some. Then came an opportunity to change direction to take on the role of Visit Coordinator where I have met some incredible people and as I like to think, have learnt a little about a lot! Taking on the role of Chevening Officer back in 2010 was another opportunity, this time to move into the world of academia.
In my time at the High Commission I have seen many people come and go and witnessed many changes. I have celebrated many successes and achievements and was humbled in 2015 to accept the British Empire Medal. Accepting the award for Diplomatic Engagement ranks up there with these memorable times and it is testament to the fact that the work we do continues to strengthen the UK-Australia relationship and demonstrates the UK’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.
I know the work I do is valued and appreciated but it’s times like these when being part of a team whose work is publicly acknowledged, I feel overwhelmingly proud to do my bit.
Through our work with these Indigenous scholars, I am fortunate to have met so many incredibly talented Australians. I know one day I am going to see one of these inspirational people achieve something truly great – whether that be in science, education, politics or business – and realise that perhaps, in some small way, I played a part in their success story.
So, a big thank you to Public Affairs Asia for raising awareness of our work. And bring on the 2017 scholars!
