Cathie Burgess is a non-Indigenous associate professor at the University of Sydney who has spent over 35 years working in Indigenous education in schools and universities. She is a parent of Aboriginal children and is closely connected to the Redfern community through family, work and sports. Cathie’s work centres local Aboriginal community voices in her teaching and research programs. She coordinates undergraduate and postgraduate Aboriginal Studies, Learning from Country and Leadership in Aboriginal Education programs. As Aboriginal Studies Association NSW President, Cathie maintains strong connections with schools across the state as well as advocating for Aboriginal Studies through government submissions, speaking engagements and convening annual conferences for teachers, Aboriginal community consultants and students. Her current research includes the Culturally Nourishing Schooling Project, Learning from Country in the City, the Smith Family Learning from Life Scholarship Program and Aboriginal Middle Leaders in NSW Schools.
Sheelagh Daniels-Mayes is an Indigenous Australian Kamilaroi woman who lost her eyesight as a child following measles. Sheelagh is located with the Indigenous Research Hub and is the coordinator for the Sydney Indigenous Research Network. Her work focuses on Aboriginal education, Indigenous Studies and methodologies, and she is a disability scholar and activist. Sheelagh is particularly concerned with higher education’s responsibilities in achieving equity and social justice for society’s marginalised people. She uses Critical Race Theory, cultural responsiveness and Critical Access Studies alongside Indigenous methodologies.
James Flexner is senior lecturer in historical archaeology and heritage at the University of Sydney. His interests include historical archaeology, landscape archaeology, the Oceanic region, and how to build a better world for human beings to live in. James has done extensive fieldwork in the Pacific Islands and Australia, currently focusing on projects in Vanuatu and collaborative research with Australian South Sea Islanders in tropical Queensland.
Allan Hall is a proud descendant of the Gamilaroi and Yuwaallaraay people. In his 30 years working with the NSW Department of Education he has worked as a classroom teacher, principal, Aboriginal education consultant and he is currently a Senior Aboriginal Education and Engagement Advisor at the Bangamalanha Centre. Allan has worked alongside researchers such as Dr Tyson Yunkaporta in the past and has been instrumental in the design and delivery of 8 Ways pedagogy.
Yvonne Hill is a proud Wiradjuri woman who works for the NSW Department of Education as an Aboriginal education and engagement officer at the Bangamalanha Centre. She has been a classroom teacher and assistant principal in numerous schools over her career and is recognised as a passionate educator and advocate for community. Yvonne has contributed to improving research practice by guiding and working with many researchers over the past 20 years.
Amanda Howard’s work and research are focused on work with communities in all its forms. She is interested in the way people self-organise and enact networked and relational leadership in a variety of different contexts. From disaster planning and recovery to community action groups, disability inclusion and informal neighbourhood connections, the ways in which people navigate complexity to get things done is endlessly interesting and will occupy her for a long while to come. She has written across these areas including Everyday community practice (2019) and Working with communities: Critical perspectives (2011) with Margot Rawsthorne. Amanda works in Social Work and Policy Studies at the University of Sydney.
Meaghan Katrak is a social worker with over 30 years’ experience working alongside communities. Meaghan’s work experience within Indigenous and mainstream contexts encompasses community development, program planning, delivery and evaluation, direct social work practice, research and academia. Meaghan lives and works in Sydney but calls the Mallee home.
Elizabeth McDermott is a professor of health inequality at Lancaster University. Her research considers mental health inequality, especially in relation to age, sexuality, gender and social class. She has conducted studies investigating suicide, self-harm, emotional distress, wellbeing and happiness. Her research attempts to investigate and develop understandings of the social, economic and cultural origins of mental health and wellbeing, and produce evidence which can inform policy and practice.
Anthony McKnight is an Awabakal, Gumaroi and Yuin man. Anthony is a father, husband, uncle, son, grandson, brother, cousin, nephew, friend and cultural man. Anthony is currently a senior lecturer in the School of Education, Faculty of the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of Wollongong. Anthony respects Country and values the knowledge that has been taught to him from Country, Elders and teachers from community(s). He continuously and respectfully incorporates Aboriginal ways of knowing and learning, with a particular interest in contributing to placing Country centre to validate Aboriginal approaches in academia and schools. Anthony in 2017 completed a PhD called Singing up Country in academia: Teacher education academics and preservice teachers’ experience with Yuin Country. He holds a Masters of Education (HRD) from the University of Sydney and a Bachelor of Education, Health and Physical Education from the University of Wollongong.
Samantha McMahon’s research interests include sociology of education, inclusive education and widening university participation. Her work explores how teachers’ engagement with multiple knowledges affects the equity of student experience and how students’ lived experiences impact their understandings of education. Sam’s mainly ethnographic research includes participation in the AIME Research Partnership (the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience), widening participation programs and NSW public schools. Her two current research projects include evaluations of widening participation programs for students experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage, and shifting discourses of gap year and university for regional students in NSW (e.g. https://astar.tv/gapyear/). Sam works at the University of Sydney in initial teacher education, teaching units of study in sociology of education, professional research projects and pedagogical approaches in education.
Imelda Miller is a curator at the Queensland Museum responsible for the Torres Strait Islander and Pacific Islander collections. Imelda works with material culture and archival collections inside and outside of the traditional museum environment to create access to collections for communities of origin. Imelda’s Australian South Sea Islander heritage drives her passion in creating awareness about Australian South Sea Islander history, heritage and identity.
Victoria Rawlings’ research focuses on the intersections between gender, sexuality, youth and social structures. Her PhD investigated the connections between gender, social structures and ‘bullying’ in two high schools in NSW. Following this work, Vic worked as a Senior Research Associate at Lancaster University (UK) for two years, conducting a national study on LGBTQ young people, self-harm and suicide. in 2021, Vic was awarded an Australian Research Council DECRA fellowship to conduct research in partnership with school communities around cultures of gender and sexuality. This research aims to understand how schools can positively and proactively include all students.
Margot Rawsthorne lectures in community development at the University of Sydney. Prior to joining academia she worked for 15 years in southwestern Sydney in non-government agencies. Her research focuses on the experience of inequality, particularly shaped by gender, location and sexuality. Her current projects focus on community change through community action across the fields of housing, poverty and disasters. She has a strong commitment to supporting the developing research capacity of the non-government sector and research collaboration that aims to ensure the relevance and usefulness of academic research and scholarship.
Lynette Riley, a Wiradjuri and Gamilaroi woman from Dubbo and Moree, is an associate professor in the Sydney School of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney; and program director for Indigenous Studies and Aboriginal Education. Lynette trained as an infants/primary teacher and has taught in high school; she has been an Aboriginal Education consultant for schools, an Aboriginal development manager for VET, manager of the Dubbo TAFE campuses; state manager for Aboriginal education NSW DET; and an academic at the University of New England and the University of Sydney. Her career focus has been Aboriginal Education for Aboriginal students and Indigenous studies for the wider public.
Helena Robinson is a museum studies scholar whose research explores the construction of values and significance around cultural collections. Her current projects investigate the ideas of cultural democracy and stakeholder participation in the museum. At the University of Sydney, she is a senior lecturer in interdisciplinary education with the Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor – Education, Enterprise and Engagement.
Dara Sampson is a social worker who has worked for Centrelink in senior leadership roles then as a lecturer at the University of Newcastle. She currently teaches at the University of Sydney in Social Work and works as academic research manager for the Centre for Brain and Mental Health Research, University of Newcastle. She is passionate about the importance of people’s stories and language and how language can extend or challenge social constructions, particularly as they relate to mental health and stigma. Dara is part of the research team on the Community-Led Disaster Resilience Pilot in NSW.
Cecil See is a proud Wiradjuri man who works for NSW Department of Education as an Aboriginal education and engagement officer at the Bangamalanha Centre. Cecil holds a Masters in Indigenous Language Education and is recognised for his contribution to language revival. He also has a background in health, having previously served as a chief executive officer for an Aboriginal community-controlled health service.
Emma Webster has Wendish, Prussian and English heritage and works for the University of Sydney School of Rural Health as a senior lecturer in rural research. She has a background in public health and is recognised for her pragmatic and collaborative approach to research and her genuine desire to engage academia to serve community interests.
Julie Welsh is a Gomeroi/Murawari woman. She was born on Gomeroi Country and grew up on Gadigal Country as part of the Redfern Aboriginal community from a young age. She has a Masters in Community Management and has worked for many years in community development and engagement. She is passionate about cultural strengthening and is constantly inspired by her beautiful daughters, and the incredible women and Elders around her every day in community.