School of Indigenous Studies

The Western Australian Students Aboriginal Corporation is the Indigenous student body on campus.

WASAC has been responsible for organising social and cultural awareness activities for students to get involved in on and off campus since 1985.

Currently representing about 150 Indigenous students, WASAC's main focus is meeting students' needs, promoting cultural awareness on campus, and providing a good social atmosphere in and around Shenton House, with social functions such as sundowners, quiz nights and barbecues.

WASAC is also involved with other Indigenous networks within Perth and around Australia. Each year it sends a team - the Western Waagyls - to compete in the National Indigenous Tertiary Education Student Games (NITESG).

WASAC encourages its members to speak to prospective students from around the State through the High School Programs run by the School of Indigenous Studies. Members of WASAC have also had the chance to travel around the State, interstate and also overseas for various conferences.

National Indigenous Tertiary Education Student Games

The Games, usually held during the third week of September each year, provide a unique opportunity to bring together Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university students from around the country to participate and compete at a national level in mixed sports including basketball, netball, volleyball and touch football as well as an Indigenous cultural game.

Since its inception in 1995, the aim of the gathering has been to promote unity, interaction and friendly competition between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tertiary students. The Games offer an opportunity to promote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and culture in a positive light, and each year the Games receive increasing exposure in both mainstream and Indigenous media.

The Western Waagyls, the only Western Australian representatives at the Games to date, have competed at NITESG since 2000 and performed admirably. So far the Western Waagyls have won three championships and have been placed runner-up three times.