I am a case study of what it looks like when the quality of someone’s education is divorced from their family’s ability to pay. I wish everybody had a story like this.
Dr O’Rance is the Assistant Secretary, Data Management and Reporting Branch at the Department of Workplace Relations, she was awarded the Vietnam Veterans’ Tertiary Education Assistance Scheme Scholarship – a precursor to the Long Tan Bursary – in 1997.
Dr O’Rance delivered this speech at the 2024 NSW/ACT Scholarship Presentation Ceremony in Sydney on May 22.
By Dr Louise O’Rance
Assistant Minister, Deputy Commissioner, supporters, scholars:
Thank you for the honour of being with you today. I was an AVCAT scholar half my life ago, at the point where everything changed for me, and I haven’t gotten over it.
My father served in the Navy when he was very young. He was back in civilian life before I was born but the navy has been part of my family story for as long as I can remember. He loved telling stories about it, and he had the stereotypical sailor tattoos. He was very proud of his service. However, like many veterans of the Vietnam War, he also suffered from complex chronic health conditions for much of his adult life. That made it hard to work sometimes, and that made it hard to make ends meet.
I’m a great big nerd (no tattoos), and when I was in Year 6 the school principal pulled my parents aside and said, ‘This child must go to university’. It’s an indictment of social inequality that this was a stressful thing for them to hear. Because even though my family are very pro-education – we watched every documentary the ABC could produce and borrowed our maximum allowance of books from the library each week – university can be a distant fantasy when covering the rent and electricity is a struggle.
Towards the end of high school my teachers looked into every university scholarship in the state to see what I might be eligible for. One of them found out about AVCAT (then called VVTEAS – the Vietnam Veterans’ Trust Educational Assistance Scheme). In his letter supporting my application he mentioned that my family didn’t have a computer, so when I got a call from the office telling me that I would be getting a scholarship to support my degree they offered me one of their PCs as well. My dad was so proud that day, and so happy that his teenage service ended up helping me 25 years later.
Warning: I’m veering into a middle-aged person’s anecdote here. I went to uni in the late nineties when there were no online classes, and most of our library’s resources weren’t online yet either. I did a science degree with lots of lab hours, so my schedule required being on campus from 8 am to 6 pm five days a week with assignments taking up most evenings and weekends. It didn’t allow for much extra in the way of part-time work. The scholarship paid for my train fare, textbooks and lab kit, and I could chip in on household bills so that my study wasn’t a financial burden for my family. The donated computer meant I could write up assignments in my bedroom instead of getting the late-night train home after the library closed.
As I said, I’m a great big nerd so the experience of going to university was magical. It gave me qualifications that opened doors into professional life, but it’s also where I was exposed to many different ideas and people, where I was challenged to hone my critical thinking skills, and where I made some great friends. Knowing that I got that opportunity because people I’ve never met chose to invest in my future has been a driving force for the rest of my life.
After my undergraduate degree I went on to get a PhD – supported by a different scholarship. I decided to go into public service after uni, focusing on research and data analysis in health and social welfare. Australia put a lot of money into giving me an excellent education, which opened up the world for me, so I want to spend my career trying to return the favour. Right now, I’m in what’s called the Senior Executive Service, which is the leadership group in each department or agency. When I speak with staff or give advice to Ministers they treat me with respect and take seriously what I have to say. That’s a privilege that I don’t take for granted. Every time I walk into Parliament House I know that I get to do so because people believed in me – and put money behind it.
I got on a plane from Canberra this morning to spend this time with you, and I had the freedom to do that because the government and donors supported my education. My father, like many Vietnam Veterans, died in his fifties so he’s not here today, but my mother is in the front row. She doesn’t worry about the rent anymore because of the people who supported my education.
I am a case study of what it looks like when the quality of someone’s education is divorced from their family’s ability to pay. I wish everybody had a story like this
I am a case study of what it looks like when the quality of someone’s education is divorced from their family’s ability to pay. I wish everybody had a story like this. But last year’s report from UNICEF and the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth, called ‘The Wellbeing of Australia’s Children’, notes that educational inequity is stagnant and has been exacerbated by the effects of the pandemic. We have a lot to do still.
There’s a quote from The West Wing that gets bandied about a lot: ‘Education is the silver bullet’. I think that’s true. But it doesn’t work if the best educations are quarantined to people whose families can afford to pay.
Last year AVCAT included my story in its 2022 Annual Report. When I shared it on LinkedIn I received lots of private messages from people across the public and private sectors saying ‘Me too. Someone gave me a scholarship so I could continue my education. I wouldn’t be here without it.’
One of them was a guy I know called Lucas. His father served in the army, as a conscript, in Vietnam, and like some of you here today Lucas received a Long Tan Bursary. I asked him if there was anything he’d like me to say. He said that the bursary was an acknowledgement of the challenges faced by children of veterans, and his family appreciated having someone there to support them. So thank you from Lucas, too.
Scholars, you are here today because someone recognised your talent and your hard work. And you are here because people you don’t know, who you may never meet, want you to have the amazing opportunities that education brings. Be proud of that, take courage in that, and honour that in how you choose to spend your life.