A hand up, not handouts

In Cape York, Noel Pearson has been tackling the hard education issues. His Cape York Institute is running a higher expectations program assisting potential high achievers from across the Cape to get into quality secondary education at city boarding schools.

The Every Child is a Special Project is working with Coen State School to improve education and lift the demand for schooling by students, families and the community.

Third, we need to confront the reality that making excuses will not get one more child to attend school, read and write, or go on to secondary school. Children in many remote communities do experience trauma, but this does not excuse the failure of our school system.

Michael McLeod is one Indigenous Australian who has successfully fought his own traumas to become chief executive of Message Stick.

His indigenous telecommunication service provider has carved out a niche in a competitive industry reselling services to corporate and government agencies.

McLeod's message is that Australian business can best help Indigenous Australians by doing business with them, not through business subsidies - a hand up, not a handout.

To open up possibilities for Indigenous Australians in remote communities to share in Australia's prosperity, we need to stop taking what Henry would call the "soft options" on education.

We need to reform the school system to stop education funding being wasted.

Greater autonomy for principals, evidence-based English literacy instruction, high expectations and better rewards for good teachers are an urgently needed first step.