Professor Jack Beetson is the first Aboriginal candidate to receive the Honorary Doctor of Letters honoris causa (HonDLitt) award at the University of New England for his “outstanding and ongoing contribution to adult education in Indigenous communities both in Australia and overseas.”

After being kicked out of school at 14, Jack returned to finish his education as an adult and never looked back.

 

Professor Beetson hopes his honorary doctorate will help raise awareness of Literacy for Life Foundation’s campaign to tackle low adult literacy levels in Aboriginal communities.  Beetson said that education could be an opportunity for someone who left school early.

Professor Jack Beetson is a Ngemba Aboriginal man from western NSW who has been actively involved in Indigenous education in Australia and internationally for over 30 years.

But, he is not an academic researcher and does not have a track record in the academic sense. He grew up in  New South Wales, the town of Nyngan.

He left school at 13 before returning to education as an adult and signed up to join classes at Tranby Aboriginal College in Glebe, Sydney. He later became a teacher at the College and was eventually appointed as the Executive Director.

However, since April 2009, he has held an Adjunct Professor appointment with the Australian Centre for Agriculture and Law.  This appointment came for recognition of the contribution he has made to the university and in other areas to the development of policies and programs for Aboriginal development.

Between 2004 and 2009,  he has also worked part-time as the CEO of the Birpai Local Aboriginal Land Council and the Macleay Aboriginal Housing Association.

He was also a partner investigator with ARC Linkage Project LP0775034 2007-2009, a collaborative project with the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Labour in Timor-Leste on the emerging adult education system in that country.

He was CEO of the Wilcannia Local Aboriginal Land Council (LALC)  from September 2011 to October 2013.

In May 2013,  Beetson was appointed as the first Executive Director of the Literacy for Life Foundation, now been charged with the national rollout of the Aboriginal adult literacy campaign.

We have no actual information regarding the Net Worth of Jack Beetson. However, as he has worked for more than 30 years, he may earn a sufficient amount. And he is very much into charity works and has invested much of his time and money in promoting literacy for life.

He is also the executive director of the Literacy for Life Foundation, which aims to effect significant improvements in Indigenous Adult Literacy across Australia.

Through his Aboriginal education and development company, now named Beetson & Associates, he has also recently completed consultancies for Commonwealth FaHCSIA, Aboriginal Affairs NSW, the NSW Office of the Registrar of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act, and Murdi Paaki Regional Enterprise Corporation.

Director Jack Beetson’s partner is unknown, and there is no information regarding his partner. He is very career-oriented and has spent much time educating people.

Not only that, he has been honored with many awards and appreciation from the people and seems to have devoted his life fully to it.

Jack has many roles and titles like Executive Director of Tranby College in Sydney, Foundation President of the Federation of Independent Aboriginal Education Providers, a

He was also recognized as a United Nations ‘Unsung Hero of Peace’ for his work on Reconciliation in the year2000 of his work on Reconciliation, a decision acknowledged by a unanimous vote of the NSW Legislative Assembly in March 2001.