Another honour for Chris Sarra
02 December 2009
By Rebecca Perry
Honoured ... Chris Sarra is Queensland's Australian of the Year.
Prominent Indigenous educator Chris Sarra has added another award to his growing collection: Queensland Australian of the Year for 2010.
Dr Sarra was also named Queenslander of the Year in 2004 and at the time of writing was in South Africa with Monash University to present a session on the structure of educational disadvantage at an international education conference.
He tweeted 
that he was feeling great and was proud and honoured to receive his latest accolade.
Raised in Bundaberg as the youngest of 10 children, Dr Sarra, 42, is best known for his remarkable influence at Cherbourg State School, in south west Queensland.
As the school's first Aboriginal principal, he helped transform a community confronted by many complex challenges into a place of hope. Unexplained absences dropped by 94 per cent in his first 18 months.
His 'stronger and smarter' philosophy, which challenges low expectations, is now embraced by educators across Australia through the Stronger Smarter Institute, formerly the Indigenous Education Leadership Institute, at the Queensland University of Technology, where Dr Sarra is executive director.
'I want to honour the children, the parents, the Elders and the Council, and the team that worked so hard with me under the "strong and smart' philosophy", he wrote on his blog after the Australian of the Year state winners' announcement.
In his statement, Dr Sarra also encouraged Australians to overcome diversity by spending 45 minutes having a conversation with someone who was different, to 'acknowledge and embrace the humanity of others'.
'Make time to share stories about the things that they love, where they come from, what they dream about, what makes them strong, what they want for their children ... our difference may not be as great as we think,' he wrote.
The Australian of the Year will be named on January 25 next year in Canberra.
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