Celebrating Torres Strait culture through business: Strait Dezinez

Combining cultural storytelling with practical enterprise, Certificate III in Business BSB30120 students from Tagai State College on Thursday Island turned a classroom concept into a successful commercial product launch.

Partnering with Dennis Fay, proud Torres Strait Islander and founder of ocean-adventure brand Salty Monkeys, the class designed, produced, and launched a limited-edition hooded fishing shirt celebrating their heritage and community.

The Tagai State College students modelling their shirts

At the heart of their brand, Strait Dezinez, is cultural pride. Students hand-drew original artwork including the Tagai (star constellation), the Kaiar (crayfish), the Dhoeri/Dhari traditional head dress of the Torres Strait, and every Torres Strait island cluster, with the final design representing the journey from day to night.

Over four months, the class managed every stage of running a real business. They even led their own PR campaign by writing a local newspaper article, speaking live on radio, and creating content that explained the cultural story behind their design.

The students at the official launch of the shirts

The project culminated with their official launch alongside the Salty Monkeys movie premiere. Managing product displays and live customer sales, the class raised over $6,000 towards their Year 12 formal.

“This has been a wonderful real-world business journey for the students and has allowed them to develop practical skills in product development, branding, marketing, event planning, communication, teamwork, public speaking, sales and customer service,” their teacher shared. “Most importantly, they created something they are genuinely proud of that celebrates their culture and community.”

“I learn best by doing, and this project showed me what we can achieve together. It was amazing to see our design come to life and hear real customers’ feedback at the launch.”
Student Timena-June Bani