A Perpetual and Positive Legacy for the Future

QATSIF was created to give Queensland's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families increased educational choices and life opportunities. It is an independent, not-for-profit trust managed by The Public Trustee of Queensland and operates through a small Secretariat.

QATSIF provides educational scholarships of $500 per semester ($2000 across Years 11 and 12) to support eligible First Nations students with the educational costs of their senior studies. Each year, QATSIF contacts all Queensland schools (State, Catholic and Independent) to invite applications from their eligible Year 10 students. Our schools play a vital role in: supporting students and families to apply for a QATSIF scholarship; overseeing the administration of the QATSIF scholarship within their community; ensuring that scholarship funds are spent within the guidelines and that their students remain eligible to receive the scholarship; and in maintaining contact with their parents and carers.

The funds used by QATSIF for its programs and activities are drawn from the interest earned on the original capital provided to The Public Trustee to establish the Trust. Built from the labour of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders under now-repealed laws, preserving this capital means the toil of previous generations will have a direct benefit to the generations that follow. In this way, QATSIF will always stand as a permanent and positive legacy for the future.

QATSIF has a Board of Advice to make recommendations on how funds should be used to achieve QATSIF's objectives. The Board is comprised predominantly of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous people who are experts and leaders in their fields, including youth affairs, education, government, corporate, philanthropy, community affairs and finance.

The Board of Advice recommends allocation and prioritisation of QATSIF funds, giving it a strategic role supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education in Queensland. It also partners with the wider community, private sector, philanthropic organisations and educational and financial sectors to create opportunities for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders to promote both equity and cultural awareness.

Converting Past Injustices into a Positive Legacy

The Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Foundation is a charitable trust that was established by execution of a Trust Deed on 25 November 2008. The effect of the Trust Deed was to place an amount of money under the control of The Public Trustee of Queensland. That amount "almost $26 million" was to be held and invested to produce income, used to achieve the Trust's objectives:

• to provide scholarships to advance the education of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in Queensland;

• to increase community awareness of the need to advance the education of Queensland's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people;

• to ensure engagement by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community with QATSIF; and

• to ensure the income produced is unending, and to secure additional financial support from the wider community for the Trust and the objectives it seeks to achieve.

While the income is used by QATSIF, the original amount given to The Public Trustee of Queensland to generate that income is preserved. Those funds represent the toil of previous generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders who laboured under now-repealed control laws and policies. It was drawn from two sources: $10.8 million from the former Aborigines Welfare Fund and $15 million from the remaining unspent funds from the Indigenous Wages and Savings Reparations Scheme.

In recognition of the significance of these sources, the Trust Deed provides that this initial capital must always be preserved and identifiable separate from any income or future donations.

Professor Cindy Shannon AM
QATSIF Co-Patron

Professor Cindy Shannon AM is a proud Ngugi woman and a descendant of the Quandamooka people.

Professor Shannon AM is currently the Chair of the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service (HHS), she was QATSIF’s Foundation chairperson for 13 years from its inception and was the first Aboriginal Pro-Vice Chancellor of Griffith University.

Professor Shannon AM earned the title of Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia, for her “significant service to Indigenous health and to medical education.”

Professor Shannon AM was recognised as a Queensland Great for her outstanding work in Indigenous health and education.

She is passionate about improving the educational and employment outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people. 

QATSIF is honoured to have Professor Shannon AM’s continued support for QATSIF in her role as our Co-Patron.

Professor Keitha Dunstan

PhD, MBus, BCom, FCPA, CA, GAICD

Board of Advice Chair

Professor Keitha Dunstan is a proud descendant of the Mandandanji people of South-West Queensland.

Professor Keitha Dunstan holds the role of Provost of Bond University. She leads the research and education strategies and oversees the academic operations of the university. Her role encompasses leadership of the Bond University College, Office of Learning and Teaching, Office of Research Services, Transformation CoLab (including the University Core Curriculum and Beyond Bond), Higher Degree Research Unit, Academic Integrity Unit, Research Integrity Unit, Academic Integrity Project, and Microcredential Unit.  Professor Dunstan also oversees the Inclusion portfolio of the University, which encompasses its Gender Equality, Equity and Diversity and Indigenous strategies.  Professor Dunstan’s first appointment at Bond was as the Head of the School of Business in 2009. Shen has Chaired the Bond University Women's Network since 2014 and was the Chair of Academic Senate 2012 - 2016.

Professor Dunstan was a Commissioner of the New Zealand Securities Commission 2003-2011. In 2005, she was appointed as a member of the New Zealand Securities Commission Audit Committee and was the Chairman of this committee from 2008 until 2011. Professor Dunstan is the Chair of the Queensland Independent Remuneration Tribunal, and the Indigenous Advisory Group for CPA Australia.  She is a Board Member of the Gold Coast Waterways Authority and is the Chair of their Audit and Risk Committee. 

Professor Dunstan is a Fellow of CPA Australia, a member of Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She is a past President of the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand 2005-2007, a past co-editor of the 'Pacific Accounting Review' 2002-2006 and is a member of the editorial board of ‘Accounting and Finance’.

Mr Ben Gertz
Board of Advice Deputy Chair

Ben Gertz is a born and bred Townsvillian, and a descendant of the Gugu-Badhun and Ngadjon-ji people of North Queensland, and the Meriam People of the eastern Torres Strait. 

Ben completed his high schooling at Ignatius Park College in Townsville, and since then has spent most of his professional working career working in numerous policy and stakeholder engagement roles between Townsville, Brisbane, and Mount Isa, including a stint as a Policy Advisor in the office of then Queensland Treasurer and Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Curtis Pitt MP.

Ben has since returned home to Townsville, and currently works as a Senior Associate – Indigenous Outcomes at the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, where he works with stakeholders in industries such as transport, resources, energy, agriculture and education to develop Indigenous Engagement outcomes associated with large scale Infrastructure projects across Northern Australia. In addition to his work, Ben sits on the Healthy Water Traditional Owner Technical Working Group for the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.

While Ben is not a QATSIF recipient (having completed high school a few years before the foundation was established), Ben’s youngest brother, Alex, was a QATSIF recipient in 2014, and Ben has seen firsthand the value that QATSIF provides in supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and their families.  

Ben is passionate about supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people pursuing opportunities to further advance their education, and regularly takes the opportunity to visit Ignatius Park College to share his post school experiences with current Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

Mr Kenneth James (Jim) Walker
Board of Advice Member

Jim Walker is an Aboriginal Elder of the Yiman and Goreng Goreng First Nations peoples of Australia.

He is a lecturer within the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Queensland and is the Chair of the Science Advisory Committee of Earthwatch Australia, Chair of the First Nations Advisory for the Co-operative Research Centre for Transformations in Mining Economies, a member of the Science Advisory Committee for Terrestrial Ecosystems Research Network and, a member of the Queensland Chief Scientist’s Native Vegetation Scientific Expert Panel.

He has been involved in advocating for the rights of Indigenous Peoples in excess of 20 years both in Australia and internationally. Jim has been involved in development and implementation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policies and programs in the fields of environment protection, science research, social justice, education, health, housing, economic development, Indigenous rights advocacy, and Indigenous cultural protection.

Mr Brad Jarro
Board of Advice Member

Brad Jarro was born in Brisbane and is a descendant of the Bidjara and Ghungalu people of Central Queensland. He is currently working as the Manager of Brisbane Catholic Education’s Ngutana-Lui Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Studies Centre.

Brad began teaching in 2006 and has held several senior and middle leader positions during this time, having taught in secondary colleges with both Brisbane and Rockhampton Catholic Education.

Brad is an active member of the Queensland Catholic Education Commission’s (QCEC) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Network. He was a member of the former Queensland Study Authority’s (QSA) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Committee, the Diocesan Pastoral Council for the Catholic Diocese of Rockhampton and various other committees throughout his time in education.

Brad is passionate about education and working across schools and colleges to ensure they become places of true reconciliation, whilst providing culturally safe environments for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and families and empowering all young people to achieve their full potential.

Mr Brenton Bowen
Board of Advice Member

Brenton was born in Cairns and raised in Hopevale, he is a proud Guugu Yimithirr man. He still has strong ties to his community and regularly visits his family who still live there.

Brenton excelled in both sports and his studies as a boarder at St. Teresa’s College, Abergowrie. At the age of 17, he signed his first contract with the North Queensland Cowboys and made his NRL First grade debut at the age of 19. His career in the NRL spanned 8 years and saw him play for North Queensland Cowboys and the Gold Coast Titans.

After retirement from football, Brenton worked for 10 years in the Department of Human Services. He is currently working for IUIH as a Deadly Choices Ambassador. Brenton is passionate about Indigenous Health and empowering students and community to make a Deadly Choice through healthy eating, being physically active and being mentally strong.

Brenton also encourages students who have aspirations of becoming professional athletes to gain a tertiary education or trade, as professional sport does not last for ever. He strongly believes that having tertiary qualifications or a trade is very important to set you up for life after professional sport.

Ms Amanda Martin
Board of Advice Member

Amanda Martin is a proud Gadigal woman and was a Round 7 QATSIF student at the Brisbane School of Distance Education.

Amanda holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics) from Griffith University. Amanda was admitted as a lawyer to the Supreme Court of Queensland in 2022 and is now an employment lawyer working for MinterEllison. She is experienced in many areas including: workplace law including WHS, industrial relations, investigations, anti-discrimination and unfair dismissals.

Since graduating from school, Amanda has continued to support QATSIF’s work by volunteering as an Ambassador at graduations and community events.  She also regularly shares her educational journey to inspire the next generation of young leaders both online and at our QATSIF graduations.

Amanda is the second former QATSIF Scholarship Recipient to be appointed to the QATSIF Board of Advice.

Ms Judith Meiklejohn
Board of Advice Member

Judith Meiklejohn is the Senior Impact Manager: First Nations communities at Orange Sky Australia.

Judith has been a health research assistant at the University of Queensland, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute and Menzies School of Health Research.

In her current role with Orange Sky, Judith oversees many areas including: the growth, management and evaluation of Orange Sky service operations in partnership with key stakeholders across remote and Indigenous communities to maximise social impact; the Recruitment, management and training of volunteers, and employees in Indigenous communities; and manages local service response to disaster recovery efforts in collaboration with local and state government disaster recovery frameworks.

Despite overseeing around 3,900 QATSIF Scholarships in 2022, our QATSIF Secretariat is just a small team:

• Michael Nayler - Secretariat Director (Full-time)

• Shalana Uta - QATSIF Project Officer (Full-time)

• Sonia Norbido - QATSIF Project Officer (Part-Time)

• Teagan Olssen - QATSIF Project Officer (Part-Time)

QATSIF is very grateful for the ongoing support and great work of the Public Trustee of Queensland who provides financial and human resources support to QATSIF.

QATSIF works hard to ensure that our students receive the maximum benefit from QATSIF funds.

The pale brown lines that connect the pathways of opportunities represent the strengthening of bonds between individuals, families and the community as a result of the ripple effect of the benefits of the Foundation. The blue sections of this opportunity represent not only Torres Strait Islanders, but water as the source of life. This depicts the power of the Foundation to be instrumental in creating positive change on a large scale.

The sections to the top left and bottom right of the artwork, with their earthy tones, represent different areas or regions, thereby including and representing Indigenous people from all areas of Queensland and the Torres Strait. The faint brown lines that traverse these sections again represent the ripple effect of the results of the Foundation providing opportunities not just for young people who receive scholarships and bursaries but for the community on a wider scale.