Charles Sturt University launches Riverina Oils Agriculture Support Scholarships for Aboriginal students

The university has committed to increasing its number of First Nations agriculture students through the Riverina Oils Agriculture Support Scholarships, which were officially announced on Tuesday.

The programs will see up to $100,000 in financial support distributed among Indigenous Australian students who choose to study agriculture at the uni.

Professor Jim Pratley from the Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation conducted a study in 2019 which found less than five Aboriginal students were graduating with agriculture degrees each year.

"Agriculture has not been pulling its weight in terms of employing First Nations people and the point of this scholarship is to try and create this opportunity," he said.

"Five is an appalling number and we have to get that to something respectable."

IN OTHER NEWS:

Professor Pratley said the scholarships would hopefully remove the financial barrier faced by many prospective students.

"The scholarship will be to support their living expenses, their educational expenses and their accommodation expenses," he said.

"It's really important to set up pipelines and to have the precedent there so future students can look at them and think 'oh I can do that'."

The new scholarship was announced following a $100,000 pledge from local agriculture business Riverina Oils.

CEO Scott Whiteman said the donation is a reflection of the company's push to become more involved with community programs.

"The pathway for Indigenous students is often more challenging so we would like to help them through that journey," Mr Whiteman said.

"We want to understand how we can make a difference and this is the first scratch at that and then we will talk with those involved to work out how we can do more."

The pledge was welcomed by Blake Dunn, the manager of First Nations Student Services at CSU.

Mr Dunn said financial stress is an issue that often gets between students and the completion of their studies.

"Unfortunately a lot of First Nations students come from backgrounds where financial security isn't the case so wherever we can maintain scholarships is obviously helpful for them to get through their degrees," he said.

"The financial security this offers will certainly be a gamechanger because it means there is one less barrier to success at university."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: