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Monday, 9 July 2018

An aspiring engineer and youth mentor and a young musician and playwright, both from The University of Western Australia, have been recognised for their contribution to the Aboriginal community as part of this year’s NAIDOC Week.

The NAIDOC Perth Awards 2018 recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, organisations and businesses who have made a significant contribution to the community.

UWA Master of Professional Engineering student Torey Rickerby was awarded runner up for the NAIDOC Education Achievement Award for his leadership, mentorship and representation of Aboriginal students in Perth.

Torey works with students and prospective students at UWA, assisting and encouraging their interest in engineering.

He has represented Indigenous students as the Chair of the Western Australian Student Aboriginal Corporation and previously sat on the UWA Student Guild as a councillor and later as the sports representative ensuring Indigenous students had the best representation at UWA in sport.    UWA English major Kobi Morrison was awarded the 2018 NAIDOC Youth of the Year Award for his work on various community arts projects, helping Aboriginal people to achieve their creative aspirations and potential.

Kobi is involved in a range of community music projects including Moombaki, Koondarm, Madjitil Moorna and Endeavours. He ran a Nyungar songs workshop at the Disrupted Festival in 2017 and was involved in the 2017 Scribblers Festival as part of FORM’s Creative Learning Program that works with children and young adults.

Professor Jill Milroy from UWA’s School of Indigenous Studies said both students were exceptional young people who were committed to the achievement of Aboriginal people’s rights, aspirations and potential and the recognition of Indigenous knowledge, culture and values.

“Congratulations to Kobi and Torey on their NAIDOC awards which recognise their passion for learning and commitment to giving back to the community,” Professor Milroy said.

NAIDOC Week runs from 8-15 July 2018. This year’s theme is “Because of Her We Can”.

Media references

David Stacey (UWA Media and PR Manager)(+61 8) 6488 3229 / (+61 4) 32 637 716

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