Fred Cobbo
Fred Cobbo is a member of a well known Cherbourg family and a descendent of the Wakka Wakka people of the South Burnett region of South-East Queensland.
He is currently employed by Education Queensland in partnership with the Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council, to work as a research officer for the Indigenous Education Leadership Institute.
Fred holds a Diploma of Education, and in a previous time of his professional life, he trained as an electrician and is currently registered as an electrical fitter/mechanic in Queensland.
He is an expert with internet research and is highly motivated about Indigenous youth leadership and mentoring in the Indigenous community. Fred liaises with Indigenous teachers, teacher-aides and other professional educators and leaders in the broader community.
He brings a breadth of workplace and Indigenous community experience to the Institute. After a chance meeting with Chris Sarra for the first time in twenty years he was persuaded by Chris to begin a new career in educating Indigenous students.
Fred worked with Chris and the team in the development and implementation of the very successful "STRONG & SMART" philosophy from a community perspective at Cherbourg School from 1999-2004.
He enjoys interacting with youth who have been disengaged from mainstream education and feels passionately about leadership towards improved Indigenous student outcomes.
Other interests and hobbies include fishing, playing golf and watching both Rugby League and AFL.
What a reconciled Australia looks like to me.
What reconciled Australia looks like to me is that all Australians should start life on an equal playing field. In this case Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders at birth are behind the eight ball in terms of health and education. Data clearly shows that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are at a higher risk of developing some form of illness. This is more evident with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders life expectancy being nearly 20 years less than main stream Australians. In education terms our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children fall well below state and federal educational bench marks.
Once these issues are well and truly addressed then we as Australians can truly say we have reconciled. "Reconciliation is everybody's business, so come on Australia lets do it together".
Fred Cobbo
