UNCLE DION BARNETT

Uncle Dion Barnett is the son of a Wulgurakaba woman and currently lives on the lands of the Yuwibara peoples in Sarina, Queensland. He has completed a string of diploma level courses and holds a Bachelor of Education.

Dion came to Tranby as a student in a Diploma of Governance course. With his long history of training Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the right training qualifications and experience, Tranby employed him as a trainer for courses including Governance, Community Development and the Tranby owned and developed accredited course; Applied Aboriginal Studies. He began as a trainer at Tranby in 2014 and was very present and caring with the learning journey of each student.

For many years Uncle Dion travelled down to Sydney to the Tranby Campus, on Gadigal Country from his home in Queensland for a week at a time, five to eight times a year per course, often training two or more cohorts of students each year.

When Covid arrived, Tranby had to start delivering all courses online. Dion dedicated time and attention to the development of our online delivery. He sourced subject matter experts and guest speakers for interview style videos, for a more human provision of online course content which clearly aligned with qualification criteria. Dion graciously pivoted to train and assess via the online delivery model.

Uncle Dion gave highly valued input to courseware development for the qualifications that he delivered, and we deeply appreciated his 'eagle eye' and valued his contributions. He was instrumental in maintaining currency and relevance of information as well as the all-important cultural elements essential for Tranby’s exclusively First Nations’ cohorts.

Dion's care with feedback to students in their assessment work was simply beautiful. He spent additional time mentoring students to achieve nationally accredited qualifications but staunchly ensured that students completed on their own merit. He went out of his way to hold repeat sessions where life and circumstances stopped students from attending practical assessment and role plays, both in face-to-face delivery and online. Dion’s dedication, care and attention was just as potent in the online classroom as it was in face-to-face training.

Dion's mentoring of other trainers who were not as experienced gave our course delivery an assurance of quality. Along with the technical and compliance aspects needed from trainers he also imparted the importance of nurturing and remaining present to each individual student as well as each cohort as a whole.

Through solid adult education principles and cultural inclusion Dion always told his students that one of the things that kept him delivering courses (well past retirement age) was that 'I also get to keep learning from the experiences that students share in class'.

Dion kept abreast of relevant ‘industry’ information regarding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Governance through his role as director on the board of the Mudth-Niyleta Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation, in his hometown of Sarina, Qld. Dion could be heard over the airwaves on My105.9FM as a member of Mackay and District Aboriginal and Islander Media Association (MDAIMA).

These appointments and other community involvements ensured that Dion had his finger on the pulse of the issues facing First Nations’ communities for up-to-date training delivery for the Governance, Community Development and Aboriginal Studies courses under his tutelage.

Closing the Gap and self-determination are two overarching themes of the major issues confronting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The only area listed in the Closing the Gap reports that has made progress is education. The qualifications that Dion Barnett trained and assessed were directly associated with empowerment and enabling self-determination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities.

Tranby issues anonymous feedback surveys at the end of each module of study, throughout each course. The survey asked for information on a range of program areas and materials etc. The feedback about Dion in these surveys was consistently exemplary. We also received unsolicited comments from students through email, at graduation celebration events, etc. that echoed the same sentiments.

Never a negative word was uttered from a student or a colleague regarding Dion Barnett, in any written information or conversation, but appropriately, he received many words of gratitude and admiration.

Uncle Dion retired from Tranby in 2025, after 11 years. We thank Uncle Dion Barnett for his incredible service and dedication to Tranby.

“I find each student is unique and enjoy seeing them form bonds of friendship and how they support each other throughout the course of study and beyond. Working with students has been rewarding experience, since being at Tranby and prior to my Tranby experience. However, as educators, we need to be committed to the tasks at hand especially when their experiences of education are so varied, be they from primary school, secondary or tertiary levels. I've always found that I gain a great deal of information from students through what they share in class. This enables me to gain an ever-broadening understanding of what's happening out there in First Nations’ communities across the country. This keeps my perspective current and relevant, which I am able to translate through continuous improvement processes for course materials and in training delivery.” – Uncle Dion Barnett, 2024