We are Australian.

On the weekends I tutor a refugee family in their home as part of a community engagement program. One of the boys in the family I work with is 11 years old. He is a smart kid but his English reading and writing level is similar to a grade 2 or 3 child, not grade 6. Because this, the boy gets teased a lot at school. I was under the impression that he wasn't being teased for his skin colour, which I think is wonderful, yet he made a reference to his ability to fit-in based on his skin being black which really upset me.

He said something about how he could never be an Australian because he wasn't white. I asked him if he knew what colour skin the Aboriginal people of Australia have. He said white and I told him he was wrong. I told him that the Aboriginal people, who are the native title holders of this country, and have been here for 40,000 to 50,000 years have dark skin. He wasn't sure if I was telling him the truth and asked why he had never seen them. I told him that he had seen them, he just didn't recognise them because their skin and other features looked a little different to his own.

It astounds me that this child, who has nearly been in this country for a year, is apparently unaware of Indigenous Australians. Next week I will bring him photos of some of the kids that I have worked with in the Hear and Say Centre and also Yalari (educational scholarship program).

I don't know what it will achieve but I hope to teach this boy a little more about Australia as a multicultural country where he is as entitled to be here as I am.

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