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This article presents an interview with Linda Burney, the new Director-General of the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Aboriginal Affairs, and Chair of the State Reconciliation Committee. Her view is that education is the key to the process of reconciliation, and also to breaking the cycle of disadvantage for Aboriginal people. Although progress in aboriginal education has been slow, the broadening of the curriculum to include aboriginal perspectives on social justice, political struggle and historical 'truth telling', have been positive advances. She mentions the role of TAFE in providing equity, access and opportunity for Aboriginal people, and the need for vocational education courses in junior as well as senior secondary school, which would benefit Aboriginal students. The greatest problem in overcoming aboriginal educational disadvantage is overcoming the differences between Western and aboriginal social philosophies, and the erosion of self-esteem from generations of unemployment and racism.