There’s a new plan to help First Nations students from daycare to uni. What does it need to work?

The federal government is promising a new policy to guide First Nations students right throughout their education careers. It will cover from the time they are in early childhood education right through to after they leave school.

The First Nations Education Policy has the potential to significantly influence outcomes for First Nations students, their families and communities. It brings together years of commitments and policies in many different places into a shared national direction.

What is it meant to achieve? And what would meaningful success actually look like?

What is the policy trying to do?

The last First Nations-specific education policy was released in 2015. But this only aimed to improve educational outcomes and strengthen cultural inclusion across Australian schools.

And while the policy established national priorities, progress since then has been uneven and significant gaps remain. As the most recent Closing the Gap data shows, there are ongoing disparities between Indigenous students and their non-indigenous peers.

At the end of 2025, the government announced it was developing a new policy in 2026. Rather than introducing a single new program, it aims to set common priorities across early childhood, schools, vocational education and higher education.

It seeks to:

• define shared priorities for First Nations education and establish how change will be implemented and evaluated

• translate existing national commitments, such as the Mparntwe Education Declaration (which sets out a vision for all Australian students), school funding agreements, the national Indigenous early childhood strategy, Universities Accord and Closing the Gap, into tangible action

• improve educational outcomes in early childhood, schooling, and post-school pathways.

The government has committed to consulting with First Nations communities across metropolitan, regional and remote contexts.

What are the positives so far?

At its core, the First Nations Education Policy aims to improve educational outcomes for Indigenous learners.

For the first time the policy will span the full education life cycle. This matters because students do not enter school or university in isolation. Their learning is shaped by families, communities, culture and earlier education experiences.

It also signals a move from broad aspirations to more concrete actions, including how progress will be measured and evaluated.

The discussion paper emphasises cultural safety, self determination, and recognising the strengths, knowledges and aspirations of First Nations peoples.

It also acknowledges that a “one-size-fits-all” approach will not work, committing to flexibility across systems and locations.

These are positive signs. This suggests, if done well, the policy could shift reform away from deficit narratives about “closing gaps” and towards systems that work with First Nations communities.

But of course, ambition alone does not guarantee change.

What are the risks?

Australia has seen ambitious First Nations education policies before.

One danger is confusing consultation with shared decision-making. While community input matters at the start, past reforms have often stopped short of shifting real authority. Research has repeatedly shown that decades of Indigenous education policy have produced limited systemic change in Australia.

Research consistently shows meaningful and sustained improvements for Indigenous students are only possible when communities are partners in decision-making, not just consultees.

First Nations voices have informed education policy in the past, but rarely shaped outcomes. Too often, First Nations expertise is sought through consultation rather than embedded within the systems that implement policy. Shifting this requires more First Nations teachers and leaders, but also greater First Nations authority within education departments and decision-making roles.

What is ‘success’?

There is also a risk “success” is defined too narrowly. If progress is measured mainly through attendance or test scores, the policy may miss what many communities value most: cultural safety, belonging and local control.

Education reform in the past has also tended to focus on students rather than systems.

In other words, are students coming to school? Are they graduating? This means curriculum (what they are learning), workforce capability (who is teaching them and with what skills), governance (who is making decisions) and institutional racism are often left untouched.

This limits the impact of even well-funded programs.

So for this policy to succeed, it needs structural change. This includes clear accountability, long-term investment, and sustained support for First Nations leadership across education systems. Without that shift, Australia risks repeating a familiar cycle of promise without delivery.

What happens next?

Governments and education providers now have an opportunity to rethink how decisions about First Nations education are made and who makes them.

Then the real test will be how the policy is funded, implemented and evaluated over time. If it leads to stronger First Nations authority, this new policy could be seen as a real turning point for Indigenous students.

If not, it risks becoming another well-intentioned policy that falls short of meaningful change.