Dare to Lead is a commonwealth funded national project with a focus on improving educational outcomes for Indigenous students. Dare to Lead began in 2000 when representatives of the four peak principals associations met at a national forum and agreed that Indigenous education would be their highest priority. It is an initiative of the profession and specifically of Principals Australia, formerly Australian Principals Association Professional Development Council (APAPDC) acting on behalf of its members and their associations. The Project is funded by the Australian Government with the support of the Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Dare to Lead is now in its third phase, with currently over 53% of all Australian schools (more than 5500) signed on as coalition members.

Participation and success rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students have improved markedly over the past few decades, but on several key indicators literacy levels and secondary completion rates for example, they are still well behind the rates for the rest of the population. Whatever their circumstances, Indigenous young people's well being increasingly depends on access to and success at mainstream education and what it provides. Dare to Lead schools commit to improving the educational outcomes of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, and also to ensuring that all their students develop an informed understanding of Australia's Indigenous

The coalition is not a 'program' in the ordinary sense of the word. It is a network of support for school leaders to work effectively with current programs and to initiate new models of activity, which will result in improved outcomes for Indigenous students. One of the goals of the project is to achieve sustainable change in this regard.

Each member school is connected to a cluster of others in the same region. The clusters of schools, called 'Action Areas' are led by experienced and willing school principals who are supported by the project to play an integral role in identifying the professional development needs of their colleagues. The project has available a diverse and powerful set of leadership tools for this purpose which have been developed for the project by school principals who are experienced and successful in the area of Indigenous education. The sessions in each Action Area provide the leadership support needed for schools to become more effective in achieving improved outcomes for their Indigenous students, and in understanding and supporting the wider goals of reconciliation and cultural understandings for all of their students.
There are currently 120 Action Areas across Australia, with between 30-50 schools in each. State Coordinators support the work of the Action Area in their state/territory.

The Dare to Lead - making the difference project reports not only on project activity, but more importantly on Indigenous student outcomes. Specific reporting is done on Year 5 literacy and Year 12 completion, just two indicators which use current reporting processes in schools to signal progress for the membership of the coalition overall. Schools are also asked to report on activity in a range of other areas.

All data is aggregated on a national basis; no school, system or sector are identified or identifiable. Data collected over the past five years from Dare to Lead member schools has demonstrated extraordinary gains in literacy outcomes and Year 12 completion.

To download an information sheet on Dare to Lead please click here.

To understand the process once a school becomes a member, download the membership flow chart.

To see how Dare to Lead works as an organisation download the organisational chart.