A three-day gathering in Queensland has placed listening to First Nations voices at the centre of conversations about Catholic education, spirituality and student flourishing.
The 2026 Queensland First Nations Catholic Education Conference, titled “Heart on Country,” ran from August 12 to 14 in the Toowoomba region. Its published conference program combined cultural immersion, educational workshops, prayer, artistic practice and discussions led by First Nations educators and community representatives.
It was the first time the Toowoomba region hosted the conference. Organizers framed the gathering around the relationship between identity, spirituality and academic growth, asking how Catholic schools can create environments in which First Nations students are respected, supported and able to flourish.
Beginning on Country
The conference opened at the Bunya Mountains, also known as Booburrgan Ngmmunge, a place of deep significance to the Jarowair people and other First Nations communities in southeast Queensland.
Traditional Owner Shannon Bauwens delivered the Welcome to Country. Participants then moved through activities focused on connection to Country, a water ceremony, rainforest walking, weaving, clap-stick making, collaborative art, eco-spirituality and Christian meditation.
Beginning in this setting gave practical expression to one of the conference’s central convictions: First Nations knowledge and spirituality should not be treated as decorative additions to education. They belong within serious discussions about learning, identity, leadership and faith.
Toowoomba Catholic Schools First Nations Education Officer Tawana Carmody said in the conference announcement that Heart on Country invited participants “to walk together, to reflect and to honour the stories” guiding First Nations education.
From Listening to School Practice
The following sessions in Toowoomba moved from cultural encounter to classroom and leadership questions. The program included discussions about school language initiatives, early-years curricula, truth-listening, educational equity and the inclusion of First Nations perspectives in school leadership.
Speakers included Cape York Partnership founder Noel Pearson; Australian Catholic University Pro Vice-Chancellor Kelly Humphrey; First Nations Christian leader, educator and poet Brooke Prentis; and Antoinette Cole of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Futures.
The final day addressed literacy in regional and remote First Nations communities through a keynote by Professor Lorraine Hammond. Bishop Tim Norton of Broome and Erica Bernard of Catholic Education Western Australia also explored the relationship between Catholic identity and First Nations spirituality.
A concluding forum included educators, church representatives and Toowoomba Catholic Schools students, ensuring that young people were represented in the closing conversation. The conference ended with Mass celebrated by Bishop Ken Howell of Toowoomba alongside Bishop Norton and Father Peter Dorfield.
A Constructive but Continuing Task
Conferences alone cannot resolve educational inequality or repair the effects of historical exclusion. Their value depends on what participants carry into school policies, classrooms and relationships after returning home.
Heart on Country nevertheless offered a constructive model. Its program gave First Nations educators and cultural leaders substantial roles, joined spiritual reflection with specific teaching practices and invited Catholic institutions to approach the work as learners as well as educators.
Young First Nations artist Dulamai Wightman created the conference artwork to express the connections among culture, faith, learning and Country. That same interconnected vision ran through the gathering: education is strongest when students do not have to separate academic development from community, identity or spiritual belonging.
For Catholic schools, the challenge after Heart on Country is to translate respectful listening into durable practice. The conference provided a place to begin or deepen that work, with First Nations voices helping to set its direction.