This working paper provides an overview of Indigenous languages learning in New Zealand, Australia and Canada. These three jurisdictions participate in an OECD initiative Promising Practices in Supporting Success for Indigenous Students, designed to help education systems to improve the experiences and outcomes of Indigenous students in education.

Applying cross-sectional regressions analysis to data from the 2014–15 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS), this study examines the link between the use of Indigenous languages and a range of wellbeing indicators.

This paper argues that the policy gap revealed by this event should be filled by a national commitment to serious consideration of evidence, and recognition of Indigenous language rights. It is anticipated that this paper will stimulate political discussion on using evidence-based research to improve education for Australia’s Indigenous children.

The entire Australian continent was once covered with networks of Indigenous placenames. These names often evoke important information about features of the environment and their place in Indigenous systems of knowledge.