A culturally safe pathway at the University of Newcastle, Yapug, is helping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students discover a whole new world of possibilities.
Pictured standing side-by-side on the footpath with her son, mature-aged student Letitia Cox laughed as she recalled the photograph taken of them bright-eyed on her first day at the University of Newcastle.
“I made my husband take it, us standing backpack in hand,” Letitia said, who witnessed the growth of her 17-year-old son, Joe, in the Yapug program, and decided to sign up herself.
“Joe really grew up in a year and he was so excited about the course, the people, he came back with such an admiration for them. And I'm like, Okay, I'm definitely in,”
“I'm doing it!” Letitia said.
Yapug, meaning "journey" in Awabakal, is the University of Newcastle pathway program that provides Indigenous students with access to university studies at no cost, offering a supportive environment to develop skills and confidence.
The program design intentionally puts culture at its centre, creating room for understanding, mutual care, and a learning methodology that acknowledges Country, community, and family responsibilities.
Juggling a 60-hour working week and three kids,flexibilityand the cultural grounding of the Yapug program were both non-negotiables for the Hunter-based business owner.
“Once you start, it opens doors and the course is designed for success… it’s easy for anyone to have a crack,” Letitia said.
“I left school at Year 10… I didn’t really want to sit in the classroom all day,” she recalls. “The way Yapug is structured, the encouragement and support you get makes it easy to do,”
“You don’t feel out of place… even as the token oldie,” she laughed.
Letitia graduated Yapug as part of the 2025 cohort and has since been accepted into a Bachelor of Medicine at the University of Newcastle.
She joins her son Joe yet again, who is now in his second year of medicine.
The duo muse about one day opening a family-based General Practitioners office to bridge the gaps in local, culturally-responsive health care and are grateful for their journey so far.
A family affair for the Cox's
Letitia Cox spends time studying in the shared Wollotuka space while completing the Yapug pathway program at the University of Newcastle.
Letitia Cox and her son Joe sit and talk about all things study and life.
Letitia Cox with her son Joe at the Wollotuka Institute, Callaghan campus, after beginning their university journey through Yapug.
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A Pathway Built on Culture, Care and Confidence
Thousands of First Nations graduates through Yapug prove how the measurement of success goes beyond entry to university, to belonging and affirmation once inside.
Holistic elements of the program, along-side academic skill-building, is why Yapug has successfully run for the past 25 years, according to Ngemba woman and the University’s Indigenous Enabling Learning Advisor, Hannah Pipe.
“Seeing their confidence build from ‘this space is so overwhelming’ to ‘I belong here’ is the most rewarding thing,” Hannah said.
Having worked in the role for almost a decade herself, Hannah can attest first-hand to the transition in students from doubt to belief when given the correct support.
“You don’t have to make yourself work for the University - learn how to make the University work for you,” Hannah said.
The Yapug pathway program allows participants to explore interest in and capacity for ongoing tertiary studies, prepare for study at university level; and obtain, on successful completion of the program, a ranking which allows you to apply for a place in an undergraduate degree program at university.
Transforming futures
No student knows the transformative power of a program like Yapug quite like Hunter-based student, Jack Colyer.
The first time the hands-on learner ever set foot in a large classroom was day one of the 2025 course, having been homeschooled since the age of eight.
Despite his initial fears and doubts, Jack would go on to join the growing list of students that have completed the ‘game-changing’ pathway program since the 1990’s.
“It was the most people I’ve ever sat in a room with. I thought about walking out and not coming back,” he laughed.
“I didn’t expect myself to be able to adjust to this world… but the support pushed me to get where I am now.”
Having been through a more uncommon learning journey than other new-starters, Jack described how cultural support and transparency on what to expect is what set Yapug apart from other tertiary programs.
“It felt like a transition so that I wasn't just blindly jumping into the deep end where I wasn't 100% comfortable in this new environment, and it gave me a network of people to fall back on… there’s always people here at ‘Wollotuka’ to have a yarn,” Jack said.
Yapug classes at the Callaghan Campus are held in the Wollotuka Institute’s Birabahn Building and jointly managed by Wollotuka and the University’s Pathways and Academic Learning Support Centre.
Jack's Pathway to Yapug story 2:35
Hear about Jack's Yapug experience and his plans after study.
For more than 40 years, the Wollotuka Institute has been a dedicated support hub for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from across the country.
The University of Newcastle supports the largest Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cohort of any Australian university, including Yapug and Wollotuka’s own undergraduate program.
It was there, at the Wollotuka Institute, Jack was able to find a home away from home.
“It made it easier knowing people understood where I was coming from,” he said.
“When things were out of my control, I wasn’t punished for it—I was supported.”
Connection to country, conservation and protecting the environment has been central to the career Jack envisioned.
Now, having completed Yapug, he is excited to have begun his undergraduate studies in a Bachelor of Environmental Science Management.
“It’s good to be able to give back and not just take—start to have people show Country the respect she deserves,” Jack said.
“Don’t let the fear of failing stop you... You never know what it’ll turn out like.”
Yapug Shows What’s Possible
Hannah Pipe still remembers the day Jack Colyer arrived at the University of Newcastle, flanked by his parents.
“It was hard to catch his eye back then, but to see the exponential growth to how he is today – it’s what I’m most proud of,” she said.
Through Yapug and other targeted support, the tertiary space continues to widen not only for students, but for families, communities, and generations still to come.
Hannah explained the ripple effect when equity and culture is centred in higher education, and how it should be used as a blueprint for all institutions.
“It breaks the stigma that blackfellas aren’t intelligent and allows them to be strong in the knowledge that they are, and they have been for millennia,” Hannah said.
“There are people within this space who believe in you more than what you know.”
Stories like Letitia and Jack show what’s possible when universities centre cultural identity, value lived experience as expertise, build flexibility into program design and honour community obligations.
All recent graduates from 2024 have gone on to undergraduate studies in the discipline areas of Nursing, Medicine, Exercise Sports Science, Global Indigenous Studies, Developmental Studies, Psychology, and Criminology.
Completion of the Yapug course guarantees entry to more than 70 Undergraduate programs at the University of Newcastle.
If you’re interested in culturally safe and accessible learning, find out more about Yapug and the Wollotuka Institute.
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