Nullu Badi Ngudyubay Academy

The Nullu Badi Ngudyubay Academy (NBNA) will be an Indigenous Independent school in Central Queensland offering a unique educational experience for students from Year 7 – 13. The NBNA will be Indigenous led with Aboriginal and/ or Torres Strait Islander representation across all aspects of the team including leadership, teachers, admin and non-teaching staff. A community approach to education including regular involvement of traditional owners, elders and community members will be a unique aspect of the Academy’s delivery model.

Our success relies heavily on a differentiated approach to the current Eurocentric view on education. Simply doing what’s been done before won’t always produce meaningful outcomes for our young people. In response, a specific focus around learning in-Country will enable the NBNA to reengage, offer a distinguished curriculum and provide something truly unique to all students. Our proposal will also offer local parents the opportunity of an educational system based on Indigenous ways of working instead of a mainstream approach. Our principles are based on the recognition that all students deserve a positive educational experience, one which will continue to motivate and inspire them.

We believe that all young people have unique attributes and strengths that should be celebrated, allowing them to be challenged through all aspects of their learning. The NBNA is a rare opportunity for our Indigenous leaders, teachers and support staff to establish and lead a transformative school model that will be monumental in shaping how education is viewed across the Australian landscape. A coalition of highly capable organisations along with some of Australia’s most experienced educators, project development professionals and philanthropic organisations are supporting the NBNA initiative.

Our vision is to create a culturally inspired, holistic learning environment that offers wrap around supports and multi-generational engagement for students and their families. We have listened to our community and will respond appropriately by establishing a targeted approach for students to reengage with their learning and provide meaningful pathways into the future. Increased retention rates and pathway options such as higher tertiary education, apprenticeships and traineeships will lead to a life of choice and not chance for our young people. To make these opportunities possible, we will offer a groundbreaking Country as Teacher two ways curriculum coinciding with the standard ACARA curriculum offerings. This dual curriculum has been carefully considered to suit our local context and continues to be developed with some of Australia’s leading Indigenous academics.

The NBNA will be a meeting place where First Nations’ students, families, extended kinship networks and the wider Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community feel connected, strong and proud in culture and where individual students have a tailored and well scaffolded pathway into the future.

Importantly, whilst NBNA will be a special place for First Nations people, it will also welcome non-Indigenous students and their families and be a place of cultural sharing, respect and understanding. The importance of an inclusive approach was identified in early discussions between Darumbal elders, community and Indigenous representation across the Central Queensland region.

To lodge an expression of interest for either enrolment or employment opportunities, please fill out the below questionnaire and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Our projected opening date is January 2026 but we will provide updates as they become available.

Expression Of Interest

*Please be advised that the above EOI is designed to reflect the current timeline proposed by the Nullu Badi Ngudyubay Academy and is subject to change. Please sign up for the monthly newsletter to stay informed on how the NBNA is progressing.