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Global moves to integrate Indigenous perspectives and histories into university curricula are growing. In Australia, shifts towards Indigenisation in higher education teaching and research have been slow, but now--partly due to new national and institutional policies--are re-forming the disciplinary landscapes where our students learn and grow. Vital to achieving these new agendas are the Indigenous Australian scholars whose work experiences are reported in this paper. Findings from a nation-wide survey of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander academics (mainly in professional disciplines like law, education and health) support a more optimistic scenario than that portrayed in some existing literature. No longer peripheral to institutional missions, this newly confident cohort of Indigenous academics is forging unprecedented partnerships with non-Indigenous colleagues and transforming the very essence of a university degree. The implications for Australia, and for other societies with Indigenous communities, are profound.

Worldwide awareness is slowly growing that Indigenous histories and perspectives are, or should be, integral to the attributes of global citizens graduating from our universities. In this context, an investigation of how Indigenous perspectives are being taught in Australian universities offered a heretofore underutilized avenue toward getting every student to engage with ideas relating to race, cultural difference, and social justice. The findings led to the identification of a number of approaches for teaching majority-culture students about minority issues. The author presents results from interviews with Australian faculty engaged in Indigenous teaching and the results' implications.

Increases in participation by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in higher education across Australia continue to be promising. However, it is also known that Indigenous students' attrition, retention and completion rates remain areas of concern. In this paper, we report our findings from an analysis of Indigenous student responses to the 2009 Australasian Survey of Student Engagement. Overall, Indigenous Australian students express positive responses in relation to engagement, but are more likely than non-Indigenous students to be planning to depart. We explore this somewhat unexpected anomaly, whilst also suggesting that much more needs to be known about our Indigenous students, including, for example, whom they may interact with at university; where they turn for support; and why they may decide to leave. Our findings strongly indicate that better national and institutional data are needed to address the current gaps in knowledge relating to Indigenous student populations in Australia and around the world.

Academics of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent are few in number but play a vital role in Australian university teaching. In addition to teaching both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, they interact with academic colleagues in a context where pressures to "Indigenize" Australian curricula and increase Indigenous enrolments are growing. In this article, we will draw on our nation-wide research with Indigenous academics to further explore this under-researched area of Australian university teaching, and the highs and lows of how Indigenous teachers experience their roles. Our findings reveal that for our Indigenous colleagues, sources of personal and professional satisfaction--as well as stress--appear qualitatively different from those commonly associated with academic work. Of particular concern are the findings in relation to issues of cultural difference on our campuses, played out in the ways Indigenous and non-Indigenous staff and students interact daily. Counterbalancing this potential negativity is the strong, indeed inspiring, commitment on the part of our Indigenous academic participants to the educational futures of their students, and thus, to the futures of Indigenous communities across Australia. The findings raise some thought-provoking questions for individuals and institutions in the higher education systems of our region, and perhaps beyond. (Contains 2 notes and 1 table.)

Universities' responses to globalisation include recruiting more students from around the world. This student diaspora has diversified student demographics and has necessitated change. Universities, considering their responses to difference, often see international students as requiring extra attention, if not remediation, of supposed "deficits." Stereotypes of them as "problems" persist. At the same time, more students from culturally diverse local communities are enrolling. In this context, findings are presented here from an Australian study of the course experiences of international and local Muslim students. Significant inter-group differences suggest that students from local communities may require more attention than western universities, preoccupied with diasporic students' characteristics and needs, have been prepared to give them. Findings also support the argument that, rather than treating difference as a deficit, universities could do more to "internationalise" all their students in educating them for a globally connected and culturally diverse world.

Integrating students into an academic community has long been established as an important aspect of a student's life and learning on university campuses. Yet efforts at greater inclusiveness by both institutions and teaching staff are taking place in the context of an increasingly diverse student body, in Australia as elsewhere. Differences between students, and between staff and students, offer both challenges and opportunities. This article reports findings from a national study of female and male Muslim students in Australian universities--a group strongly associated with difference. The study found that, although their academic satisfaction and commitment are strong, their sense of belonging may be diminished by factors operating at both institutional and interpersonal levels. Gender differences were generally not significant within the group, which challenges certain stereotypes regarding relations between male and female Muslims. (Contains 2 notes and 6 tables.)

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning movement is now truly international although national and contextual differences affect its implementation. Institutional capacities for and openness to innovation vary widely and cannot be readily predicted. The research university referred to in this article has a conservative reputation in Australia, yet its new teaching and learning strategies are not only unique in Australia but have attracted international attention. This article analyses how a large research university has introduced radical changes in teaching and learning in ways which embody scholarly ideals and are also consistent with the University's overall research mission.

Evaluates data from a study of PhD graduates in Australian universities for gender differences in early research experience. Argues that such documented phenomena as women's lower publication output and their non-participation in collaborative networks are due to factors such as women's choice of discipline area. Although rejecting an explicitly "gendered agenda", the paper notes female PhDs report greater dissatisfaction. (Author/DB)

Background The implementation of healthy school canteen policies has been recommended as a strategy to help prevent unhealthy eating and excessive weight gain. Internationally, research suggests that schools often fail to implement practices consistent with healthy school canteen policies. Without a population wide implementation, the potential benefits of these policies will not be realised. The aim of this trial is to assess the effectiveness of an implementation intervention in increasing school canteen practices consistent with a healthy canteen policy of the New South Wales (NSW), Australia, government known as the 'Fresh Tastes @ School NSW Healthy School Canteen Strategy'. Methods/design The parallel randomised trial will be conducted in 70 primary schools located in the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. Schools will be eligible to participate if they are not currently meeting key components of the healthy canteen policy. Schools will be randomly allocated after baseline data collection in a 1:1 ratio to either an intervention or control group using a computerised random number function in Microsoft Excel. Thirty-five schools will be selected to receive a multi-component intervention including implementation support from research staff, staff training, resources, recognition and incentives, consensus and leadership strategies, follow-up support and implementation feedback. The 35 schools allocated to the control group will not receive any intervention support as part of the research trial. The primary outcome measures will be i) the proportion of schools with a canteen menu that does not contain foods or beverages restricted from regular sale ('red' and 'banned' items) and ii) the proportion of schools where healthy canteen items ('green' items) represent the majority (>50%) of products listed on the menu. Outcome data will be collected via a comprehensive menu audit, conducted by dietitians blind to group allocation. Intervention effectiveness will be assessed using logistic regression models adjusting for baseline values. Discussion The proposed trial will represent a novel contribution to the literature, being the first randomised trial internationally to examine the effectiveness of an intervention to facilitate implementation of a healthy canteen policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]