What is your background and what brought you to Macquarie?

My name is Aidan Downey. I'm a Wiradjuri man and I grew up on Darkinjung. I’d say I’m currently a fifth-year student (which is the best because I can call myself ’super senior’).

I’m grateful to not only have an older brother who attended Macquarie University and graduated in 2020, but to also know other deadly Indigenous graduates from my high school, such as Dylan Barnes and Taylah Pearce, who built amazing connections with my school together with the hardworking and deadly staff at Walanga Muru. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to attend Camp Aspire and Rising Stars for Indigenous students during school, where I met deadly advisors who continue to represent Macquarie University, as well at students who I’m still friends with and currently attend Macquarie. It is through these opportunities that I learned about Walanga Muru’s early entry pathways, which alleviated a lot of stress as I was accepted into a university that takes care of its Indigenous students.

I’m now grateful to be able to give back to the community by pouring my energy into camps, events and other various University activities.

Aidan Downey and Hayden Brown at a Walanga Muru social networking event

Aidan Downey with team members at Indigenous Nationals 2024

How did you originally become interested in your area of study and what keeps you interested in it?

There are many reasons that are both simple and complex. In accepting my early admission, I researched different degrees and took advantage of my freedom of choice to enroll in a double degree, combining my habit of changing my mind but also my interests in society and culture, which I found to be a passion of mine during my final years of high school.

I chose to undertake a Bachelor of Commerce (majoring in Human Resource Management) as it was one of my favourite subjects in school. I enjoyed managing resources and understanding the different ways someone can legally approach an issue with a social understanding of human emotions and responses.

I knew I wanted to undertake an arts degree because I had an inkling of wanting to go on exchange, but I also envisioned how I could develop myself through an arts degree. Undertaking Critical Indigenous Studies was always a priority for me as well. Throughout school, I never had the opportunity to learn much about my culture, which left me with a lack of confidence in myself, a hard time understanding where I position myself in the grand scheme of life and what I stand for going ahead in the future, especially growing up in times where there is so much strife and settler colonialism embedded within institutions.

There were many reasons in undertaking my major in Critical Indigenous Studies, such as being proud in my ancestry and connection to Country but also because I missed out on this opportunity growing up. I would consider this degree my pathway to the future because I’ve had the chance to learn critically and offered the opportunity to work with, and be mentored by, deadly academics. The degree has changed how I make connections, think critically and provided many opportunities that make my family and community proud.

Tell us a bit about your current study and what makes it so important?

Critical Indigenous Studies is an imperative global pursuit that is undertaken by so many deadly activists, allies and accomplices who deconstruct and question settler colonial discourses and narratives in today’s world. It is becoming increasingly imperative that these discourses are decolonised and truth-telling is prioritised over reconciliation to understand how constructs are made common in today’s world.

It is through Critical Indigenous Studies we question and reckon with colonial constructs in fields that continue to occupy spaces through a settler colonial structure. It is imperative that these spaces are deconstructed and reckoned with.

Is there something you would like students/staff to know about?

As I’m currently doing this questionnaire, I’m living my best life. Throughout the first three years of university, I tried my hardest to complete my degree as fast as I could because I thought uncertainty was something that I could escape and my future would be full of amazing things I imagined. But after last year, which was a difficult period in my family’s life, and since going on exchange, I found that life isn’t that narrow. It’s full of uncertainty and it isn’t easy to manage, but everyone else is faced with the same situation, and life changes rapidly under the choices you make.

I realised this even more when I decided to go on exchange and travel this year. Every situation has been unfamiliar but has become easier the more fun I have and I am enjoying navigating the spontaneous moments. I’m finding that, as a person, I’m understanding myself more and how I want to display my values going forward. As I write this, I’m in Perú and I’ve worked hard to continue my travels until the end of the year to ensure that when I come back, I arrive with cool travel stories and as someone I know my younger and future self would be proud of.

Aidan Downey at Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

What is something you have recently accomplished?

At the start of the year, I took a leap in my degree to undertake a global exchange at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. I had been planning this since the start of my degree when Walanga Muru facilitated a global exchange with two
Indigenous students from the University of Victoria in Canada. This, alongside the mob in the Centre of Critical Indigenous Studies, inspired me to go on exchange.

I undertook the exchange through my Bachelor of Arts degree which I found amazing. It had an in-built international exchange experience. I arrived in Canada on 4 January and finished my exchange on 28 April. It was an amazing time full of memories and experiences that will stay with me and continue to change how I define who I am as a person.

I met amazing people everywhere. My roommates were incredible people from across the world and I found some amazing connections with them and others across UBC’s exchange and Indigenous space. Throughout my time, I made a strong connection with the Indigenous spaces, finding myself missing the people there day by day but also inspired by the work they do and the values that they so clearly wear on their heart. The work they do for their fellow Indigenous students motivates me to continue to do the same when I get back to Australia with some deadly people across the campus, both staff and students who taught me a lot about myself and who I should be when I grow up. It is through these interactions that I’ve had the privilege of meeting amazing people and making lifelong friends.

I made connections through so many amazing avenues and learned so much from them. I'm grateful to the spaces that I had the privilege of interacting with including The Indigenous Student Society, First Nations Longhouse and šxʷta:təχʷəm student space as well as outside of UBC The Roxy and around Vancouver.

What do you need to do your best work?

To do my best work I need to have a reason. I’ve found throughout my degree and internships, when I’ve been most invested into an idea, I’ve held a strong reason to work towards a goal.

During my time on exchange in Canada, people had beautiful and amazing reasons that defined their purposes and who they were. Often, they were the people I learned the most from and could take so many insights throughout my degree from their generosity and intelligence. Often, it is the people with amazing purposes and values which contradict colonial values that I was able to take inspiration from. During one of my African American Histories classes I was heavily invested in global transnational influences and I found that one of the best essays I had ever written was produced because my ideas and values came from something I felt strongly about.

What do people always ask you when they find out what you what you study?

I think people mostly understand and are passionate about what I’m aiming towards. Initially, there were mixed reactions because I had solely chosen my degree out of interest and passion, meaning I had little clue as to what I wanted to pursue. Thankfully I found some amazing mentors and passionate people at the Centre of Critical Indigenous Studies who had an incredible impact on me as I navigated my degree. I would also pay incredible respect to the team at Walanga Muru, the Indigenous students who provided me a space to feel culturally safe and comfortable and also Career Trackers who have provided tons of Indigenous students scholarships and internships to network, collaborate and push students to pursue themselves.

What is something you've read recently that has had an impact on you?

Last year I had an amazing opportunity to work with the Centre of Critical Indigenous Studies who continue to support me in my studies and life. They are amazing, deadly people who unknowingly share so much about who I should be and how I can continuously fill myself and heal.

I’ve attended many events and conferences with the Centre but one slide always sticks out me as someone who struggles to locate my values in environments that I feel stuck in. It was a slide by Distinguished Professor Bronwyn Carlson, Head of the Centre of Critical Indigenous Studies, which was a list of advice. “Remember you have a direct line to a strong and brilliant intellectual genealogy - look at who came before you and draw on this work.” For me, it’s a reminder to be strong, kind and understand that support is always there through wonderful and amazing mentors.

A personal quality you value in others?

I value empathy the most. Empathy as an emotion and quality isn't hard to come by when you surround yourself with the right people. It’s those people that are often great people and something I always inspire myself to be like.

Whether it be in their studies, writing or yarns, checking in on someone and ensuring that they are ok is important. It is often these people that make the best employees, academics and friends.

A moment you felt proud?

Two years ago my dad suffered a heart attack and then at the start of 2024 my mum was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. It was a long battle that was riddled with different difficulties. It was difficult for my family and watching my mum battle cancer was a tough experience. When my mum finished chemotherapy, I was super proud of her. Whilst I’m not currently home, I’ll always be proud and worried for my mum but I’m confident that she is a strong figure in my life and someone I’ll always be proud of, along with the rest of my family and those in my life.

What is on your agenda for the rest of 2025?

I’m deciding to travel the world for the rest of the year. Savouring my time and taking as much space as I need to heal, learn and become generous to myself and the communities and people around me. I’m looking forward to learning new skills, meeting new people and wondering about life whilst trying to build something for myself to stand on and push myself off when I get back home.