The Indigenous Tuition Program (ITP) provides free supplementary, tailored one-on-one or small group academic assistance to enhance Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student success in their chosen field of study.
ITP is funded by the Commonwealth Government under the Indigenous Student Success Program administrated by the National Indigenous Australian Agency. Our Student Success team at Nura Gili coordinates the programming aiming to improve the enrolment, progression and completion rates of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students to the same level as non-Indigenous and International students through the provision of tutorial services and support that complement normal teaching.
Information for Students
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All Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students enrolled at UNSW are encouraged to apply for the Indigenous Tuition Program. To be eligible, you must satisfy the following criteria:
- be an Australian citizen; and
- be an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person (confirmation of identity required); and
- be enrolled in a formal course of study at UNSW.
You are eligible for 15 hours of tuition per term per course. These hours can be used flexibly but students are encouraged to meet with their tutors on a regular basis, for example: one hour of tutoring per week and 5 hours for exam preparation.
Due to the unique structure of the Medicine Program, Medicine students can receive 32 hours of tutoring per course.
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While Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identity is unique and sacred to every person. All applicants are required to provide proof of their Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander identity and heritage.
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You need to apply for ITP assistance each term or as required.
- Register through the online form via www.nuragili.unsw.edu.au.
- Complete the commencement survey.
- Watch the introductory video.
- Request a tutor, enter the course code and submit the request.
- Repeat this process for each course you require tuition.
- Select “Tutor Preference” and choose options that will assist our Student Success Officers to match you with the best tutor.
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Your application will be assessed to ensure you meet the eligibility requirement. A tutor will be selected based on the information provided in the application. You and your tutor will be notified by email with information on the next steps and how to start the tuition sessions.
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- Tuition sessions do not commence until you tutor has received confirmation that they have an active contract and in the system. If tutoring commences prior to the confirmation, your application and tutor’s contract will be cancelled.
- You are responsible for entering tutor session hours into the Nura Gili’s ITP System at the end of each session. It is not possible to add future sessions. All hours will be rounded up to the nearest 15mins.
- By applying for a tutor, it is anticipated that you will use the hours allocated. However, if you find you no longer require the tutoring, please notify Nura Gili so that the tutor can be assigned to another student.
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You must give the tutor at least four (4) hours’ notice if a tutoring session will be cancelled or changed, otherwise, a tutor will be entitled to a one-hour “no show” payment and the hour will be deducted from your allocation of hours.
Students who persist in ‘no shows’ will have their tutoring contract cancelled.
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You are expected to contact Nura Gili if you are experiencing further difficulty with academic work or with tutoring. In the rare situation that there are any problems between you and tutor, please contact a Student Success Officer.
You have the responsibility for preparing yourself adequately for tutorial sessions. Tutoring is not a substitute for your independent study time.
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Before any ITP contract can be approved, you have the responsibility to declare any conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest between the tutor and yourself.
Tutors must not be:
- Immediately related to you (by marriage or de facto relationship or family member)
- Regular course lecturer/tutor
- Employer or supervisor at work
Report any conflicts of interest (or potential conflicts of interest) to the ITP Coordinator or any Student Success Officer. This needs to be reported via email itp@unsw.edu.au.
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ITP is awesome! It’s free, student led and if use properly will make a big difference with your grades. Here are some tips to make your ITP experience the best it can be:
- Meet with your tutors regularly! The more you meet with your tutor the better experience you will have to succeed. Make a regular meeting time with your tutor that is ongoing for the term. Make sure you meet in an environment where you can concentrate and won’t get distracted. This will help you to stay focused and smash out those HD’s.
- Don’t be shy! There are no silly questions and your tutors are judgement free. The tuition program is a great opportunity to ask those questions you may not be able to ask during your tutorials. If you don’t understand an explanation, ask if your tutor can explain an idea in a different way until you are clear.
- Be prepared! To ensure you have a good session with your tutor make sure you have everything you may need like course outlines, text books, diaries, readings, calculators, pens etc. If you need help getting your hands on these items get in contact with the Student Success team. It’s also super important that you are ready by attending class and doing your weekly readings and tasks prior to your session. ITP is not an alternative to going to class!
- Don’t risk it! Your tutor is not there to do the hard work for you or do your assignments for you. They can guide you, explain and discuss concepts and help edit your work but cannot touch your assignments. The University takes plagiarism very seriously and you will be at risk of being suspended.
- Set Goals! Have a good yarn with your tutor about your goals for the term. Your tutors will be able to share some really good tips and advice about how to reach your study goals and ace the course. Remember they have also completed the same courses and have a good understanding of the assessments. They can also share tips on things like how to prepare for an exam, how to get organised and avoid burning out.
- Get to know your tutor! Our tutors are really great people and can become wonderful support and mentors for you throughout your degree. They can give you all sorts of advice on other things around the campus and not just study.
Information for Tutors
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As a tutor you will work directly with the student(s) individually to provide supplementary tuition. It is essential that tutors establish and maintain collaborative and respectful working relationships with Nura Gili staff and students to ensure that the best outcomes are achieved for all stakeholders.
As tutor, you are expected to:
- Be culturally aware and sensitive to the needs of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students. This includes participation in Cross Cultural Awareness Training.
- Demonstrate an understanding of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait peoples in contemporary Australian society.
- Possess sound and clear interpersonal communication skills.
- Foster student autonomy and independence by focusing on the development of student skills and capacity to succeed independently.
- Deliver the program of tuition within the contractual agreement.
- Always behave in an ethical manner. This includes ensuring student(s) are doing their own work.
- Be aware of the University’s Student Misconduct Procedures and ensure their behaviour is compliant with these policies.
- Attend ITP training workshop(s).
The ITP tutor role does not involve:
- Conducting research on your student’s behalf.
- Taking or supplying course notes.
- Writing or editing your student’s assignments or work.
- Liaising with your student’s teachers, lecturers or supervisors on their behalf.
- Any other academic support outside of the subject you are engaged to tutor in, such as providing enrolment advice or course management. It is the student’s responsibility to make sure they attend all classes, complete and hand in assignments and fulfill all other requirements to pass their courses.
- Assisting with anything that might constitute academic dishonesty.
- Providing personal, financial, or counselling support.
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To become an ITP tutor, you must:
- Be a third-year student and above to provide tutorial assistance.
- Have at least a credit or higher in the course you wish to tutor in.
- Be at least 2 years ahead of the student matched to you.
- NOT be members of the student’s immediate or de facto family, live at the same address or be the student’s course coordinator, course lecturer or tutorial lecturer.
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There are two separate systems involved: ITP system which is used to match tutors and students and to keep track of tutoring sessions plus a HR system (UNIHIRE) to get a tutor established on the HR payroll and provide an employment contract.
1. ITP System
Tutor applicants are required to register their interest to be a tutor through the Nura Gili ITP system. This allows the Student Success team to match a student with a tutor. This is also where the sessions are logged and confirmed for payment.
Please register at www.nuragili.com.au and include the following details:
- Current Curriculum Vitae.
- Academic transcript/statement or proof of qualification/s
Note 1: CV and transcript are used to enable the tutor to be matched with the student requiring tuition.
Note 2: Registering as a tutor does not guarantee employment.
Once the Student Success team has established a match, both the tutor and student will be sent an automated email with clear instructions on the next steps.
2. UniHire System
In order to get paid, tutors MUST be set up on the UNSW payroll system called UniHire. How it works:
- Applicants need to set up their profile in UniHire (this is only required once).
- Upload your resume and academic transcript. [You will need to upload these on UniHire system and the ITP system).
- After a job offer is made, follow up emails will be sent from HR requesting additional documentation e.g. evidence of work rights (Birth cert/Passport etc.).
- After a job offer has been accepted, HR will request bank details and details for Superannuation.
Tutors MUST have an employment contract PRIOR to commencing tuition. Allow 5 days minimum from the time you set up your profile on UniHire to be established on the HR payroll. This is to allow sufficient time for the following steps:
- Hiring Manager has to check that the UniHire application has been completed correctly and approve the application.
- A job offer must be created and sent to the applicant.
- Applicant MUST accept the job offer.
- Applicant must submit all documents required via HR in a timely manner.
- Applicant must supply bank details and superannuation details as required once offer is accepted.
A new contract is required for each term. Existing tutors will receive a new contract as soon as they have been matched with a student in the new term. You must accept the new contract before commencing tutoring in the new term.
Only when the contract has been accepted can tutoring sessions commence. Tutoring sessions MUST NOT commence until confirmation of your contract being active and in the system. If you start tutoring sessions before the contract is processed, your contract will be terminated and you will not be back paid.
In the first tutor session, it is recommended that the tutor and student discuss goals, study support and expectations for the term as well as their availability and locations for tutor sessions.
By accepting a contract, tutors and students are agreeing to comply with all UNSW Governance and Policies
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Student and Tutor matching
The Student Success team will make every effort to source and assign a suitably qualified tutor to each eligible student. If for any reason the Student Success team cannot match a student with a suitable tutor, the student may be able to nominate a tutor, provided the person:
- Is not a direct family member, partner, or close friend.
- Does not reside in the same household as the student.
- Is not the student’s usual lecturer, teacher, educational assessor, or classmate.
- Is sensitive to and understands the educational needs of Indigenous students.
- Has relevant experience and/or qualifications in the students’ relevant discipline of study; and
- Declares to the ITP Coordinator any situation that may compromise the professional integrity of the tutor, student, or the University.
All requests are evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the Student Success team. Tutors and students must declare all conflicts of interest to the Student Success team via email.
It is important to remember that the ITP is a student-driven program, and tutors should refrain from soliciting or approaching students for work.
Contract Cancellation
With a written statement to the Student Success team contracts can be cancelled at the student or tutor’s request. Contract cancellation can also occur when:
- A student withdraws from the unit or course; or
- A student or tutor is not engaged or has had two (2) consecutives ‘No Shows’; or
- Unsatisfactory performance/ conduct occurs by either the tutor or student.
Once a contract has been cancelled no further hours can be claimed.
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A student is eligible for 15 hours of tuition per term per course. Typically, this equates to one hour per week and 5 hours to use flexibly, for example, for exam preparation. Students have the flexibility to use their total contracted tuition hours as they require throughout the term, however, students are encouraged to commit to meeting weekly with their tutor. It is not uncommon for the total allocated contract hours to not be fully utilised throughout the duration of the contract.
Due to the unique structure of the Medicine Program, Medicine students receive 32 hours of tutoring per course.
Casual Pay Rates and Superannuation
Rate of Pay for Tutors are indicated below:
3a – Demonstration or Other Duties Rate (no PhD)
3b – Demonstration or Other Duties Rate (PhD) -
Rates of pay for casual academics are displayed on the HR Sharepoint site:
Casual Academic Timesheets and Pay Rates
The table below is an example only and shows how to interpret the schedule for payments based on the teaching fortnights. The first column shows the teaching fortnight, and the last column is when payment will be made for those sessions that occurred and were confirmed in that teaching fortnight. You MUST confirm your hours in the ITP portal by 9am of the Monday following the end of the teaching fortnight to be included in the respective pay cycle. Not completing this by Monday may result in a delay in pay.
In the example above, any tutoring sessions that took place in the fortnight between 30th January and 10 February must be confirmed in ITP by Monday 13th February in order to be paid in the week beginning 27th February (normally pay appears in bank accounts on the Wednesday so in this case it would be Wednesday 1st March).
Because all casual academics get paid in the same way across the University, the “timesheet review period” allows casual lecturers and tutors on normal academic courses and programs to review that the hours that have been entered for them is consistent with the hours they have taught. Since the ITP system is the method used to confirm tutoring sessions, the “timesheet review period” is less relevant for the ITP tutoring scenario and rarely used. You will receive automatic emails from the payroll system to review hours but they do not require you to take any action.
If the tutor or student cannot attend a tutoring session, they must endeavour to provide each other with at least four (4) hours’ notice (i.e., via email/text/phone). Exceptions will be made where there are unforeseeable circumstances.
If a student fails to give at least four (4) hours’ notice prior to the scheduled session, without a reasonable excuse, they will be deemed as a ‘No Show’. If a student has two (2) ‘No Shows’ without reasonable cause, their contract may be cancelled.
The tutor may claim up to one hour for each no show, up to a maximum of two ‘No Shows’. Any such claim will be deducted from the total contract hours afforded to the student and tutor under the assigned contract.
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After each tutor session, it is the student’s responsibility to log the hours in the Nura Gili ITP system and the tutor needs to confirm them. Payments cannot be processed until the hours have been confirmed. We strongly encourage for this to be completed straight after the session. This will prevent any payment delays.
If a student has missed/forgotten to enter the hours for a particular pay period, then the hours can be entered and claimed in the next pay period.
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Students and tutors are encouraged to use public spaces for tutor sessions. Under no circumstances should tutoring occur in a student or tutor’s home. Suggested meeting places include:
- Nura Gili East Wing – Engineering Building, Kensington Campus
- F206 Winangala Gurrugurrubaa, Paddington Campus
- UNSW Library
- Open spaces on campus
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If you have any questions or would like more information about the program, please contact us or subscribe to Nura Gili to stay up to date with the latest news, updates, engagements and events.
Acknowledgement of Country
UNSW is located on the unceded territory of the Bidjigal/Bedegal (Kensington campus), Gadigal (City and Paddington campuses) and Ngunnawal peoples (Canberra) who are the Traditional Custodians of the lands where each campus of UNSW is situated.