Bachelor of Education (Adult Education), 1993; Diploma of Adult Education & Community Education, 1989
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Award and Chancellor's Award for Excellence
Professor Jack Beetson has dedicated his life to Aboriginal rights advancement, with a focus on dramatically improving literacy rates for First Nations adults. A proud Ngemba man from Western NSW, Beetson strongly believes ending intergenerational illiteracy in Indigenous communities starts with empowering adults.
To accomplish this mission, Professor Beetson helped found the Literacy for Life Foundation in 2013. As Executive Director, he fights for funding so the Aboriginal-led charity can continue its vital work. Hundreds have graduated from the foundation’s programs – a testament to Beetson’s real-world impact.
After an interrupted high school experience, Beetson returned to learning at age 28 at Tranby Aboriginal College. His unexpected move into teaching there cemented his belief in education’s power to create opportunities. Beetson would later become the Executive Director of Tranby.
Seeking official teaching qualification, Beetson enrolled at UTS in 1986. He and his classmates fought to ensure they remained owners of their Indigenous cultural work – an effort encouraged by their teachers. This willingness to challenge norms, fostered during his time at UTS, has remained a constant in Beetson’s work.
Spurred by the steadfast belief that learning is a fundamental human right, Beetson has worked tirelessly on a wide range of initiatives and programs since. As a consultant at Beetson & Associates, he’s advised some of the biggest governmental and corporate organisations in the country. He also spent time as a member of the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) and was on the UTS University Council.
But Beetson’s influence expands outside Australia. In 1997, he represented the country at UNESCO’s CONFINTEA V conference in Hamburg, helping develop the organisation’s first Indigenous adult education framework. He was honoured with a United Nations Unsung Hero Award in 2001 for Dialogue Among Civilizations – one of 12 winners that year. And in 2019 he was inducted into the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame.
The key to improving the next generation’s literacy rate is having literate adults to set a good example. It’s about making community-wide changes – taking them from low literacy to ones that value learning.