Applications are now open for this year's Loris Williams Memorial Scholarship.
The Australian Society of Archivists (ASA) offers an annual Loris Williams Memorial Scholarship for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students studying in archives and records at either university (undergraduate or postgraduate) or at vocational education and training institutions (from Certificate III onwards).
The scholarship provides $3000 to go towards fees, books and computing costs. In addition, a year-long ASA student membership, and a mentor to help guide career development will be provided by the ASA.
Applications will be open until Sunday 12 June 2022.
For more information about the scholarship and to apply, please visit Loris Williams Memorial Scholarship on our website.
The Loris Williams Memorial Scholarship Information Guide should be used by applicants when filling out their applications. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
We encourage all members to share this scholarship with anyone who may be eligible and encourage them to apply. It is not a requirement to be a member of the ASA to apply. Successful applicants must:
- identify as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
- show that they are interested in, and committed to, a career in archives and records
- agree that they will complete their chosen course of study.
Background
The Scholarship is named in memory of Loris Elaine Williams (1949-2005), an Aboriginal Woman of Mulinjali (Beaudesert, South East Queensland) descent through her father, and Birri Gubba (Ayr, North Queensland) descent through her mother. Loris was the first Aboriginal person from Queensland to gain professional archival qualifications, and only the second Aboriginal person to do so. Apart from a short secondment to the State Library of Queensland in 2002, she remained with the Community and Personal Histories Section, DATSIP (Department of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Policy) Queensland from 1998 until she passed away.
Loris is remembered as a passionate advocate for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to use archives as a means of reconnecting with their family, country and Indigenous identity. Similarly, Loris spoke of the need to have qualified Indigenous staff in the archives and recordkeeping sector.
As testament to her own personal commitment and lasting legacy, it was Loris’s leadership as Convenor of the ASA’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander SIG, that the group produced the brochure ‘Pathways to your future and our past: careers for Indigenous peoples in archives and records’ to encourage Indigenous people to train as archivists and records managers. This directly paved the way for this Scholarship being offered that now deservedly bears Loris’s name.
The ASA is committed to supporting Indigenous Australians to become archivists. Having more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within the profession provides opportunities to influence change and ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people feel represented in decisions made about archival collections and processes.
Comments