Henry and Bernadette Atkinson
Uncle Henry Atkinson
Uncle Henry Atkinson is a Wollithiga man. His traditional Country is Echuca, Victoria. At his school Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students were segregated, and not allowed to be taught in the same classroom.
He left school to follow his father’s advice to find work, and was heavily involved in the Echuca community. He played football, basketball and joined the Country Fire Brigade.
After Uncle Henry got married and started a family, he moved to Melbourne’s eastern suburbs and joined the Boronia Brigade. He maintained a deep connection to Country, family and culture, and ensured his daughters also had those connections.
Uncle Henry was concerned about the lack of awareness and understanding about Aboriginal culture and histories, and began working with Monash University as a consultant and lecturer to address it.
He was joined by his daughter Bernadette in the Indigenous Education Unit, and worked to improve outcomes for future Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. This unit provided lectures and coursework for pre-service teachers, along with opportunities to engage with Aboriginal educators and Elders like Uncle Henry.
Uncle Henry received a Professorial of Education in recognition of his work within the Faculty of Education and the wider Monash community.
Uncle Henry has fought for the repatriation of ancestral remains and is an Honorary Associate with the Aboriginal Advisory Committee of the Museum of Victoria. He holds an advisory role with the Country Fire Authority.
He continues to educate about culture, education and his lived experience as an Aboriginal man at schools, corporations and government. He has strong connections with other universities and often travels to remote communities as part of a remote school program. Henry has assisted many boards, hearings and advisory committees, and is a past Director and Committee Member of Opening Doors Foundation for Catholic Education.
Bernadette Atkinson
Bernadette Atkinson is a Wolithiga woman. She was raised in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, on Wurundjeri Country. She has always been involved in her community and culture, and has worked in Aboriginal organisations most of her life. In 1988 she was Miss NAIDOC.
She was raised to understand that education was the key to change, but that education had to be a balance of culture and mainstream approaches.
Bernadette is a Monash alumna who was enrolled via the Monash Orientation Scheme for Aborigines in the 1980s. She returned to the university while raising her daughter Isabella. She completed a double degree in Arts and Education in 2013 and completed a Master of Education in 2014.
For many years Bernadette was the only Aboriginal student and was keenly aware of the lack of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people considering teaching as a career.
After graduating she worked as an Indigenous Student Liaison Officer in Yulendji, now known as the William Cooper Institute, and then as a lecturer in Indigenous Education. She was involved in research – most notably the AITSL teaching standards – and co-authored several papers.
After she left Monash, Bernadette worked as a Cultural Education Coordinator at the Koorie Heritage Trust and now works as the Koorie Education Coordinator at the Department of Education.
For the past five years Bernadette has run workshops for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people to learn how to make Marngrooks – traditional footballs – as a way of connecting people to culture.
