One desk. Two computers. Some cupboards and a couple of chairs. That was Griffith’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Unit back in 1990, says Deputy Vice Chancellor (Indigenous) Angela Barney-Leitch (B Commerce ’90; GCert Employment Law ’99; M Education & Professional Studies Sesea ’18), who first walked in there as a student determined to make her mark on the world.
Angela grew up in Woodridge, Logan. At school she realised there was no expectation that she or her friends would go to university. “Only the rich white kids went to university. So I knew I’d be spending a lot of time at the Unit, because it was where the other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were, and I wanted to be around them.”
In 2026, as Griffith celebrates 40 years since the Unit’s founding, support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students looks very different. It’s now known as the GUMURRII Student Success Unit and every campus has its own dedicated support centre, where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff assist students with everything from orientation to postgraduate support. But it all started right there in that little office—with a few staff members and a passionate, enthusiastic group of students who were determined to forge a path for the next generation.
The Unit, founded in 1986 by nun and chaplain Sister Patricia Blundell, offered tutoring and study skills support. But it was also always meant to be something more: a place that could help you feel like you belonged, a home on campus to go for a cup of tea and a chat or some reading in the long gaps between lectures.
“It felt very friendly and inclusive,” Angela remembers. “If you were feeling crappy, there was always someone there to talk to. We had great big backgammon competitions. We’d tell jokes, run assignments past each other. We’d go down to the Humanities unit and buy chocolate mint biscuits for 20 cents. Everyone there was your good mate.”
Those good mates also turned out to be an extraordinary cohort. They included mathematician Professor Chris Matthews, inventor of the Goompi model, a method of teaching mathematics to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students that focuses on creativity and how they can create their own expressions of maths. Educator and entrepreneur Leesa Watego was there too, along with educator Lisa Buxton, Charlene Watego—now Deputy Head of Mission in Tuvalu—and award-winning writer Melissa Lucashenko.
But Angela didn’t just want to be part of the unit—she was determined to improve it, too. She founded the Griffith Indigenous Student Association, with Lisa Buxton its first president and Angela the second.
The Unit still only had two computers, while non-Indigenous students had their own laptops. “When I think about it, they must have been very wealthy students, as it was a long time ago! But I put in a submission to the student union and we got $5,000, which bought another two computers and two chairs. That was a big deal, because I used to write all my assignments at home, then have to book a slot to type it all up on the computer.”
There was a positive, encouraging atmosphere, she recalls. “I remember saying that I wanted to do this and that, and it would always be met with: ‘Yep, you can do that,’ or: ‘If you want to do that, then go for it.’ The academics were supportive, too. I particularly remember Emeritus Professor Ciaran O’Faircheallaigh, who is still here now and ended up being my supervisor for my Master of Education and Professional Studies.”
After she graduated, Angela won a place on Queensland’s Department of Human Services and Health’s program—one of only two Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander graduates taken on that year. Since then, she has held numerous senior roles, focusing on Indigenous policy, education and training, child protection and youth justice. From 2016 to 2019 she was Queensland Department of Education’s Director of Indigenous Policy and Strategy Innovation, then moved to QUT as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous Australians) before her path led her back to where it all began.
And she’s taken the can-do attitude of the Unit with her throughout her career. “If I wanted to write a policy, I’d just start writing. If I wanted to start a staff network, I’d do it. Griffith gave me that confidence.”
One particular piece of advice from an academic stuck with her. “I remember once saying that I didn’t know where to start with a piece of writing. I had all these thoughts in my head and I didn’t know how to get them out. He said to me: ‘Just start writing. It’ll be rubbish when you start, so just take that bit out later. This way, at least you start putting things down.’ And I still do that. I just write ideas down and go from there.”
The past 40 years have seen steady progress in creating an environment where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students can reach their potential, she says. She remembers sitting around with her friends from the Unit a few years after graduation, trying to work out how many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people had degrees. “I think we came up with about 1,000 in total in the whole of Australia. Now, we have more than 1,000 just from Griffith alone.”
But there is still much to do and more to learn, she points out. “Now we have more students, we need to work out how to give them the personalised support we had. They are doing degrees in many different areas, which adds extra complexity because now you have to get everyone in the University on board, not just the business or the education faculty. There has to be a much more systemic approach than we had back then.”
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students ought to be able to see themselves in every facet of the University – from being represented at recruitment events to having Indigenous perspectives embedded in the curriculum. “When we were studying, it was almost like we didn’t exist as people. The Indigenous context or our knowledge wasn’t included in the curriculum and didn’t contribute to the knowledge that was given to students. For example, when I studied HR and Industrial Relations, Indigenous issues did not come up. Now they do, because our current academics are a lot more aware of biases in the system.”
The legacy of the Unit is students like Angela herself. What does she hope her own legacy will be? “I’d hope that people there will look at me and think: ‘She grew up in Woodridge, and she is Aboriginal and she went to university. I could, too.’ And the other thing I’d hope is for Indigenous issues to be so embedded and systemic that they are impossible to close down. That they are seen as a normal part of the University. That it’s not a choice to support Indigenous students or to teach Indigenous issues, it’s just part of the norm. Because that’s what this university is about.”
Image captions (top to bottom):
- Angela Barney-Leitch, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Indigenous), Griffith University.
- Angela with her mother Linette Russ at her graduation.
Published 30 July 2026
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