University students wanting to be teachers now required to complete ‘woke’ mandatory modules before they even step foot in a classroom

By BRETT LACKEY FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

Published: 06:24 BST, 13 May 2025 | Updated: 07:40 BST, 13 May 2025

The NSW government now requires teachers to be certified in Aboriginal culture and anti-racism in order to work in schools.  

In the latest push to politicise education, a student studying to be a teacher at Australian Catholic University (ACU) told 2GB’s Ben Fordham they need to complete a compulsory module on Aboriginal culture before their placement in a school. 

‘Woke ideologies are being forced onto students again. All they want is to study and graduate. They don’t want to be treated like primary school kids or to endure a shame session about Australian history,’ Fordham told listeners on Tuesday. 

It follows backlash earlier this year over a decree from Sydney’s Macquarie University that all students attend lessons which described non-Indigenous Australians as ‘settlers’ and ‘guests’ in their own country. 

While elsewhere across the state, James Cook University instructs physiotherapy students to learn about ‘white privilege’, and Charles Sturt University requires students to pay to do yet another course on Indigenous culture.

The new training module is from the NSW Education Department and is compulsory for any student studying to be a teacher in NSW. 

An ACU spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia: ‘The NSW Department of Education requires all pre-service teachers to complete a mandatory training module on Aboriginal Cultural Education. 

‘Students can graduate from ACU education courses without this, but can not teach in government schools in NSW unless they complete this mandatory training module.’

The NSW Education Department requires students studying to be teachers to be certified in in Indigenous culture before they can work in public school. A student from ACU spoke up about the new requirement

Certificates are issued by the NSW Education Department when the module is completed

Macquarie University earlier this year backflipped on its decree that all students must attend lessons which described non-Indigenous Australians as ‘settlers’ and ‘guests’ in the country (pictured an Invasion Day rally in January)

The cultural module contains six parts including language, significant people and sites, impacts of past government policies, and the journey to reconciliation. 

‘All staff must complete the mandatory training, Aboriginal Cultural Education – Let’s take the first step together… and training on the Anti-Racism Policy and their responsibility to actively challenge racism,’ the department states.

The department said the module would build students’ capacity and responsibility to improve cultural safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. 

‘This training supports the department’s partnership agreement with the Aboriginal Education Consultative Group to respectfully acknowledge and understand the importance and diversity of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories and cultures and see our work through a cultural lens,’ it said. 

‘Many staff are also taking part in ‘Connecting to Country’ learning which provides deep insight into the myriad of social, cultural, historic, economic and political issues that continue to affect and concern Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities.’

The University of Newcastle also requires students to complete the training, according to its online course information.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Newcastle University and the NSW Education Department for comment. 

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University students wanting to be teachers now required to complete ‘woke’ mandatory modules before they even step foot in a classroom

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