An overview of Aboriginal education in the last two hundred years reveals that Aborigines have had a depressingly inadequate education, also marked by inequity of opportunity and participation. The developmental pattern of Aboriginal education has been characterised by four broad periods or eras related to specific government policies. These periods are identified successively as The Protection Era, the Segregation Era, The Assimilation Era and The Integration Era. The Protection Era began with the early frontier settlement of Europeans in Australia and extended until the 1860's. The Segregation Era marked the full development of Aboriginal reserves from 1860 to 1940. The Assimilation Era extended from the 1940s to the mid 1960s. Finally the period of Integration began in the late 1960s and gathered momentum in the 1970s. Throughout the periods of protection, segregation and assimilation very little effort was expended in the provision of adequate education for Aborigines. It was not until the late 1960s that concerted attempts were made to redress the many decades of neglect and apathy. Researchers uncovered glaring problems needing urgent redress. Aboriginal pupils persistently achieved very poorly in comparison with others and left school at an earlier age. As a consequence Aborigines left school lacking the knowledge and skills to compete with other Australians and had much poorer prospects of employment. In the early 1970s the National Aboriginal Education Committee and the state Aboriginal Education Consultative Groups, combined with support and funding from DAA, Commonwealth Education and The Schools Commission, were very influential in establishing programmes. In response to the growing numbers of Aborigines who were denied adequate schooling, three general types of adult programmes were developed: a) enclave/support systems; b) pretertiary/bridging courses and c) off campus centres. It was these programmes operating at WACAE that DEET commissioned me to evaluate. The existence of these programmes is the result of WACAE's prompt response to the need for redressing Aboriginal educational imbalance. The programmes developed following the commencement of the Aboriginal Teacher Education Programme at Mt Lawley College in 1973. The first enclave was established in 1976, external AEEC commenced in 1978 and G.E.C. in 1980, the first off campus centre was set up in 1983, and the Tertiary Preparation Course (internal AEEC) began operation in 1985. Commonwealth money has provided the financial basis for the programmes, but WACAE was the first institution in Australia to implement programmes and its achievement is significant. The terms of reference for this project required that the method of research should be through data gathering by means of interviews and examination of documentary evidence during a three week period in Perth. The evaluator consulted DAIS staff, students and, as particularly requested in the brief, Aboriginal community members. Findings revealed that WACAE's enclaves, on campus and off campus, have made progress towards educational equity for Aborigines, provide good support and are valued by students and Aboriginal community members. Aboriginalisation was found to be essential to maximum enclave effectiveness. Staff, students and Aboriginal community members would like to see increased Aboriginal representation, contract hiring of staff not being conducive to employment security or staff continuity. It is recommended that rationalisation of enclaves would achieve a more efficient pooling of resources. During the last thirteen years considerable amounts of external funds have been injected and it is recommended that WACAE take greater institutional responsibility for enclaves, using funds from normal Commonwealth sources, as distinct from special course funding. The existing staffing patterns and conditions of employment should be regularised in regard to salary, tenure, study leave, superannuation, etc. Such a measure is necessary to ensure staff continuity, security and inclusion in the power structure of the institution. WACAEs external pretertiary courses (AEEC and GEC) have achieved a small measure of progress towards equity of access and participation in education for Aborigines. The wide geographical distribution is significant in providing availability of courses. The courses are valued by Aboriginal community members and there is a need for external courses of this nature to continue in the future. However, progress towards equity has been extremely slow and time taken for completion of courses is unduly long considering the basic nature of GEC, and the fact that the courses are designed for completion in one year. The courses are preceived as enhancing employment performance and prospects as well as being preparation for tertiary study. There has been a shift in opinion regarding Aboriginal education during the 1980s towards the view that education should not be seen in isolation but in combination with employment and training. It is recommended that DEET take immediate steps to implement the Aboriginal Employment Development Policy in Western Australia, considering how best the benefits of external AEEC and GEC can be maintained and expanded. On the other hand, the Tertiary Preparation Course (internal AEEC) has achieved commendable results and is assessed as being worthy of increased resources and energy. Difficulty was encountered in efforts to determine exactly how DEET funding was used. It seems that this type of enquiry would necessitate the services of a qualified accountant. Enclave/support systems and pretertiary/bridging courses will be needed for some time to come. Many Aboriginal people stated that they envisage the time when these programmes will no longer be needed, 'when inequity of education has been addressed' and 'equality' achieved. Until this goal is reached the programmes will remain necessary. The achievement of the broad objectives of the AEDP, i.e. employment and income equity with other Australians and equity of participation in all levels of education, will see Aboriginal aspirations becoming a reality.