The BGGS Uralla Club hosted an event on Thursday 11 March to acknowledge this year’s Close the Gap Day. Officially recognised on Thursday 18 March, Close the Gap Day focuses on achieving indigenous health equality by 2032.
Girls and staff acknowledged this significant day by participating in an interactive installation display, signing the Close the Gap pledge to achieve health equality, wearing stickers, and purchasing bookmarks and used books from the School’s Libellum Society to raise funds for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.
The 2020 Close the Gap Report indicates some progress has been made in reaching education targets, including a rise in enrolments in early education and rates of completion of secondary school by indigenous students. Despite such progress, there is still much to be done to achieve health and education equality for all Australians.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience higher rates of preventable illness such as heart and kidney disease, and diabetes. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people also have a life expectancy 10 years fewer than other Australians (The 2020 Close the Gap Report, 2020).
The School’s Uralla Club meets weekly throughout the term to organise ways to raise awareness of the complex issues faced by Australia’s indigenous people and educate the BGGS community about how to help ‘close the gap’. The club also learns about and celebrates indigenous history, achievement, culture, identity and activism.
The Uralla Club’s interactive art installation is now on display in C3.
Ms Abby Hills
Uralla Club Coordinator
