Executive Director's Welcome

Richmond Hill has burst to life for a new school year, with ever more growth for our students and alum.  We were thrilled to welcome 22 new students to MITS in Year 7, and to spend time with their families, at our Orientations in both Darwin and Melbourne.  We also welcomed back last year’s MITS students, who have become our inaugural Year 8 cohort.  The Year 8s have moved into a fantastic new space at Richmond High School, where the Year 8 program will be based until completion of the William Cooper Centre at Punt Road Oval in 2025.

Across Richmond Hill and our Wellington St Boarding House, over 70 students are living with MITS and attending school with MITS in Year 7 and 8 or at one of our Partner Schools in Years 9 to 12.  Next term, when our newest boarding house opens at 371 Church Street, we will have over 80 students living across Richmond Hill: a strong, vibrant, connected community!

This year, our nation has an opportunity to vote on a Voice to Parliament – a constitutionally enshrined body that would enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to provide advice to the Parliament and Government on matters that impact on their lives.  The Voice is one part of the Uluru Statement from the Heart – a statement agreed by 250 Indigenous delegates in May 2017 – for a way forward for our nation: Voice, Treaty and Truth.

Many of our students have already told us that the Voice Referendum is important to them.  Last year, our Year 7s were visited by Senator Pat Dodson, who spoke about the importance of the Voice, and a week later Dwayne chose to use his Student Celebration Dinner Speech as a platform for why he believed the Voice would provide greater opportunity for Indigenous people.

As an educational organisation, we are committed to promoting education and conversation amongst our students, families and broader community on the Voice through 2023.  In each MITS Newsletter this year, you will find a section on the Voice – a place for reflections, information and yarning circle starters, led by our students and First Nations staff.

In this most important year for our nation, we invite you to join us in listening, yarning and understanding.

Ed Tudor

Executive Director