Waverley Stanley was a 12-year-old Indigenous student at a country Queensland public school when his teacher Rosemary Bishop spotted "something special" in him.
Determined to get Waverley a better education, Mrs Bishop arranged a scholarship at an exclusive private school. Waverley says it changed his life.
Nearly 40 years later, Waverley is paying it forward through Yalari, a scholarship program he set up to provide the same opportunity for other Indigenous kids.
Yalari, meaning 'child' in the Birra Gubba language, now helps 170 indigenous students a year gain an education at some of Australia's top boarding schools.
Behind the success of Yalari is the love story of Waverley Stanley and his wife Llew Mullins, surrogate parents to more than 300 students who’ve been through the Yalari program over the past decade.
