In the mid-1980s, UNSW established one of the first university student programs specifically for Indigenous students in NSW. The University created an Aboriginal Student Support Program in 1987, later known as the Aboriginal Education Program. This unit was merged with the Aboriginal Research and Resource Centre in 2003.
After a name finding competition, the new identity of ‘Nura Gili’ was born in 2004. In the language of the Eora people, Nura means place and Gili means fire/light. Nura Gili brings together these concepts to create the meaning ‘place of fire and light’.
From its humble beginnings, Nura Gili now occupies an impressive space at the centre of the UNSW Kensington campus. In 2012, Nura Gili moved into its new home at Balnaves Place thanks to The Balnaves Foundation. The state of the art centre is now the central hub for Indigenous education at UNSW.
Nura Gili Current Student Lead, Tanya Griffiths, is the Acting Director of Nura Gili.