Steve Foster

Steve was born on Thursday Island. His mother is a Torres Strait Islander whose people came from Mabuiag and Yam Islands and his father was non-Indigenous and involved in the pearling industry. He went to the Catholic primary school on Thursday Island and up to Year 10 at Thursday Island High School. There was no senior school on the Island at that time, so he completed Year 11 and 12 at Townsville Grammar School. Steve won a scholarship with the ATAP program in 1979 and subsequently completed the teacher education program at James Cook University.

He remembers his first days in teaching:

I always enjoyed working with students and I was glad the opportunity arose for me to do that. I guess looking back on my early education I never had an Indigenous teacher stand in front of me, so it was really hard in those days to even see yourself as a teacher because of all the racial things that were around in that era. I graduated in 1982 and started teaching in Cairns. It was a big school and I guess I was the only Indigenous teacher in the Cairns region at that time and it was quite hard. But I used to put in a really big effort and by the time I left I got on well with the staff and the parents were great. Originally parents didn't realise I was the class teacher. When they would arrive on the first morning they would walk right past me and ask where Mr Foster was.

After a year in Cairns, I was transferred to Thursday Island. It was a challenge to go back home and teach there but I enjoyed it and the community was really happy and very supportive. After being there for two years I was asked to go to work as a curriculum writer for the Torres Strait District. In those days [before 1985] we did not have Education Queensland running the schools on the outer islands, it was administered by DCS [Department of Community Services] or DAIA, [Department of Aboriginal and Islander Affairs]. So I was involved in writing up curriculum there and worked for six months as an advisory teacher travelling around to the islands working with teachers.

Steve then went back to university to do a Graduate Diploma in Aboriginal and Islander Education. He subsequently worked at Saibai Island as a teacher and at Stephen and Boigu Islands as a principal, before going back to university to undertake his Masters degree. In 1993, he applied for and received a promotion to become principal at Badu Island.

Steve has subsequently spent 14 years at Badu Island. In that time, though, he also had a six month stint at the regional office and for a time also took on a half-time role as Group Principal for the Torres Strait District, acting as mentor for Principals in the district. He has also had a long-standing involvement with TSIREC (the Torres Strait Islander Regional Education Council) and served two terms as chairperson of that body.

In 2007, Steve became Tagai College's Associate Principal, Outer Island Campuses.