This is the fifth and final day in our series of posts on AARE’s education priorities for the 2025 federal election. Today’s posts are about widening participation and nurturing aspirations.

We may all have things in common, but we are not all the same. We may technically all be able to aspire to become doctors, teachers, or lawyers. But we all know that many in our communities won’t have the resources or capital to achieve those aspirations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the analogy of us all being “in the same boat” was used frequently to suggest that we all are experiencing the same issues. But the reality is that some people were on five-star yachts. Others were on rubber dinghies with patches over punctures to keep them afloat. Some were in the process of sinking. The same analogy can be used when we think about educational access and outcomes.

Hope, motivation, and drive have played some roles for people who have risen above their circumstances to achieve great things. But hope alone isn’t enough. It isn’t enough to achieve the widespread systemic equity measures needed to ensure all young people can achieve their goals, whatever they may be. The most disadvantaged young people in Australia have as much talent and promise as any other young person. We must implement evidence-based approaches to ensure this cohort has the same rigorous educational experiences as any other young person in this country. 

Talent in abundance

Talent is in abundance across all identities and communities in our societies. But there are some cohorts who we statistically know are more likely to be disengaged or educationally disadvantaged, such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, students with disability, students under child protection orders, LGBTIQ students and students from low socio-economic backgrounds. This list isn’t exhaustive. But we know young people from these demographics are increasingly being excluded (formally and informally) from accessing mainstream schooling options. 

Over the past decades, there has been an increase in alternative or flexible schooling options for young people for whom mainstream schooling is no longer an option. These schools play a critical role in keeping young people engaged in education. But as the sector has shown no signs of slowing in its growth, we need to invest in understanding the short-term and long-term outcomes for young people who attend them. This is critically important because of the cohorts who attend them and the challenges some of these young people will face in the longer term, particularly if they have not received a high-quality education. 

Many young people have strong relationships with staff

In 2022, we delivered Australia’s largest survey of young people who attend flexi schools. 483 young people from 19 flexi schools nationally shared their perspectives on a range of topics including their experiences of learning, what they would like to learn about and their career goals. The survey revealed many young people have strong relationships with staff. They feel supported and that learning was ‘right for them’. However, just over half of the young people did not feel challenged in their learning. We also found that young people in flexi schools have diverse and high aspirations. The risk we outline in the findings is that flexi schools may have low expectations of young people’s willingness to engage critically with academic content. 

We talk about building aspirations and strong futures in providing accessible schooling pathways. But there needs to be closer policy focus on these cohorts who face layers of external challenges and who need robust schooling provision to create these pathways. There are gaps in policy and research in understanding the role flexi schools are playing in the education ecosystem. Because the cohort who attend flexis are more likely to be in groups who experience educational disadvantage as outlined above, this glaring gap needs urgent attention. 

Imagination Declaration

There is capability and excellence within all young people. If we look at the Imagination Declaration 2019, young people eloquently articulated:

 “The future of this country lies in all of our hands… we do not want to inherit a world that is in pain. We do not want to stare down huge inequality feeling powerless to our fate… it is time to think differently”. 

Enabling aspirations and strong futures means building a rigorous, research-informed understanding of how the most educationally disadvantaged students can thrive in all schooling contexts.

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Marnee Shay is associate professor and deputy head of school in the School of Education at the University of Queensland. She is nationally recognised for her research and expertise in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education, codesign, strengths-based approaches, educational policy and youth studies. Her maternal family are from the Ngen’giwumirri language group, Daly River region (Northern Territory). Her research has substantially impacted policy and practice in her field. She serves on multiple Government and School boards, including the Indigenous Forum at the Australian Research Council (ARC). She is a qualified and experienced Queensland registered teacher.