From hairdresser’s apprentice, to primary school teacher of over 15 years, Kahlia Saunders is a Gunditjmara and Boandik woman who now leads in the language revitalisation space as a Language and Culture Officer across NSW.

Relevant Links from this episode:

Wollotuka: https://www.newcastle.edu.au/our-uni/...

8 Ways: https://www.8ways.online/about

Nb:

In this episode I (Amy) refer to the experiences of First in Family students being the minority of university students, which was true when Kahlia and I were studying our degrees and was true when I last dove into the student population data for my own thesis work (2020). However, it is interesting to note that over the past two decades, the Government has supported Universities in widening participation, and in recent years the impact of these measures has begun to impact the enrolment data in exciting and interesting ways.

In 2021 the rate of First in Family students was approaching 50%.

https://theconversation.com/odds-are-...

In 2025, post recording of this episode, it was reported that the number of FIF students has risen to 2/3rds of the student population. Meaning that for the first time, FIF students are no longer the minority of the University student population.

https://www.acses.edu.au/new-report-r...