Winner profiles
The National NAIDOC Week Awards are an opportunity to recognise our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, scholars, sportspeople, Elders, community members and much more.
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Alick Tipoti

2024

Caring for Country and Culture Award

The National NAIDOC Committee are thrilled to announce Alick Tipoti as one of the finalists for Caring for Country and Culture award.

Alick Tipoti is a Koedal (crocodile), a Zugubaw Baydham (seven stars shark constellation and a Kuki Guuba (northwest monsoon wind through his father's side from Badhu. He is a Koedal (crocodile), Thabu (snake) and Dhoeybaw (wild yam) through his mother’s side from Saibai.

He is the head of the Koedal totem through cultural inheritance down the eldest male genealogy line and is known to his people as Zugub meaning spiritual ancestor.

He is a fluent Kala Lagaw Ya language speaker (KLY & KKY dialects), a cultural leader and advisor. Alick is passionate about preserving his native language and reviving cultural traditions through his art and dance, He has been working putting together a language book and aims to have it published by early 2025.

Alick has promoted his culture through art & dance nationally and internally for over 20 years. His artworks are held in major institution collections such as the British Museum, Monaco Oceanographic Museum, Cambridge Museum of Anthropology & Archaeology, National Maritime Museum of Australia, National Art Gallery of Australia and the National Museum of Australia.

Alick has influenced a whole generation of young emerging Torres Strait artists and has significantly revived the art of mask making in the Torres Strait. He believes that art and science are the two most important practices all first nation people should embrace. Art to keep the cultural fire burning and Science to learn about caring for country into the future of global warming and climate change.

His most iconic artwork presentation was when his work was put on the roof top of the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco in 2016. His latest work will be displayed very soon on two Queensland rescue helicopters highlighting environmental themes such as climate change and marine conservation.

Alick brings to life his artwork through cultural Torres Strait songs and dance. the first team he founded (Zugubal Dancers 2012-2016) has performed in many places internationally from the U.K to France to Monaco and throughout the Pacific. His most powerful performance was a traditional ritual in 2015 behind closed doors when the Zugubal dancers performed for Torres Strait turtle shell masks (artefacts) collected in the late nineteenth century and were on display at the Cambridge University/Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology.

In 2021, Alick with his wife and four children established their new dance team called Dhamuw Koedal. in a short time, they have performed in festivals such as the Winds of Zenadth cultural festival (WoZcf23) on Thursday Island, Melanesian Arts & Cultural festival (MACfest23) in Vanuatu, Cook Islands, National Art Gallery of Singapore and Art Gallery of NSW. They have since been booked for a few performance in 2024.

A documentary featuring Alick and HSH Prince Albert II discussing climate change was released in 2020, shedding light on their efforts to care for the environment. This is currently streaming on Stan.

Despite his significant contributions towards caring for country, preservation of language and culture, Alick’s family feels that he is not given the recognition he deserves as a cultural leader and ambassador.

Alick is a very spiritual person and acknowledges that his task as a cultural leader in this life is to continue to collect firwood and placing them in the fire lit by his ancestor and to keep that home cultural fire burning for the next generation of Zenadh Kes Islanders.

Alick believes that, if one wishes to learn their traditional cultural language and is not in a language speaking environment, then one must turn to songs and dance. This will allow them to embrace their culture proper strong especially in the midst of the unknown technology world ahead.

He continues to education the young people to firstly understand their identity by knowing their Totems, Stars, and Winds. From these three elements, they will be more Loud and Proud as a first nation culture.

This is the world of Koey Zugub - Alick Tipoti.

Naarah

2024

Creative Talent Award

Naarah is a Gija woman from the Kimberly who grew up in lutruwita/Tasmania. Naarah is an actor, performer, singer and creative who recently won 2024 Young Australian of the Year in Tasmania.

In 2023 Naarah was successful in her application for a Roberta Sykes Scholarship and Disney Theatrical Scholarship and is now studying a Master of Musical Theatre at the esteemed Royal Academy of Music in London as the first Aboriginal person at the institution.

Naarah uses Instagram and TikTok to spark important conversations about First Nations identity, culture, and representation. She is passionate about changing the entertainment industry and increasing representation in the creative industries, particularly First Nations. She has actively sought to elevate Indigenous representation in the arts by creating opportunities for Indigenous artists and sharing Indigenous stories. Naarah has acted as a mentor for aspiring artists, volunteering to support them in her free time.

Naarah won the 2023 Creative Australia Dreaming Award for the development of her musical theatre project “Broadway but Blak” – a cabaret concert that takes the audience through a journey of musical theatre from a First Nations’ perspective.

Naarah’s future goals are to achieve an outstanding career in screen and theatre, create new works and produce work for young artists, amplify First Nations stories on stages, release an album and be a face for young mob around the country to look up to. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories, community, songs, theatre and music is at the heart of what Naarah does and why she does it. ‘You can’t be it if you can’t see it’ has always driven her to push and work for change within her industry and she is only just getting started.

Warlpiri Education and Training Trust

2024

Education Award

Picture: Masie Kitson Napaljarri and Sharon Anderson Nampijinpa from Warlpiri Education and Training Trust.

Warlpiri teachers and traditional owners of the Newmont Tanami gold mine site set up WETT in 2005 to use royalties from the mine to improve education and training outcomes for yapa (Warlpiri people) in the Tanami Desert. For almost 20 years, WETT has supported a range of partnerships and programs that align with Warlpiri education priorities in Yuendumu, Willowra, Nyirrpi and Lajamanu. So far, WETT has invested more than $53 million to support yapa (Warlpiri people) across its five education program areas:

Children and families supports Warlpiri governance and staff in early childhood services in Yuendumu and delivers a playgroup in Willowra in partnership with World Vision Australia

Language and culture in schools supports communities to maintain culture by funding school country visits, Warlpiri language curriculum development and wages for elders to teach in the classroom and on country

Youth development delivers out-of-school literacy activities for youth in partnership with World Vision Australia and diversionary youth programs through the Central Australia Youth Link Up Service (CAYLUS)

Secondary school support funds interstate excursions for school students and students away at boarding school

Learning community centres promote adult learning and literacy for work, life and wellbeing. The centres partner with Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education (BIITE) in Willowra, Nyirrpi and Lajamanu. They serve as classrooms, libraries, internet cafés, cultural archives and service hubs

WETT is a Warlpiri-controlled and governed initiative administered through the Central Land Council (CLC).

The WETT advisory committee comprising four Warlpiri representatives from the four communities, along with one each from Newmont and the CLC, plays a crucial role in designing, planning, and monitoring WETT-funded initiatives. This committee, which meets at least three times a year, advises the directors of the Kurra Aboriginal Corporation, whose members are traditional owners of the mine site. The Kurra directors, guided by this advice, allocate funding to the WETT programs.

Many of the founding members of WETT are still on the WETT advisory committee today and are taking innovative measures to support new and younger members to join the committee and grow into these important roles. WETT's commitment to developing strong governance, careful succession planning, and life-long learning was acknowledged when it received the prestigious Indigenous Governance Award in the non-incorporated category in 2018. In more recent years, WETT has developed an innovative monitoring and evaluation approach, the Yitakimaninjaku, warrirninjaku, payirninjaku manu pina-jarrinjaku (YWPP) ‘Tracking and learning’ program, through which local Warlpiri researches monitor WETT’s programs. The YWPP approach prioritises capturing and amplifying the voices of Warlpiri youth.

WETT’s vision is for Warlpiri people to be strong in their knowledge of culture, country and language, to stand up for Warlpiri communities today and be strong role models for generations to come:

“Our language, culture and decisions will be respected. Our voices will be heard. We will have the same opportunities as everyone else. Our children will be confident, knowledgeable, disciplined, healthy and respected. They will have good roles and jobs, as will the generations to come.”

Tui Nolan

2024

Innovation Award

A proud Gudjal man, who grew up in Sydney, New South Wales, Tui Nolan has dedicated the past nine years of his career to advancing machine learning models.

Tui completed a Master of Science and a PhD in Statistics at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). His innovative work in machine-learning has been applied to forecasting housing market trends, predictive economic modelling, improving robotics and satellite data, and enhancing data quality and accuracy.

In 2018, Tui was awarded a Fulbright Future Postdoctoral Scholarship, which enabled him to take on a postdoctoral position at Cornell University in 2019. In 2019 he was also awarded a Roberta Sykes Fellowship.

In 2020, Tui spent three months helping to develop RoboSimian – a limbed robot originally designed to aid recovery operations in disaster zones, but is now being repurposed for space exploration. He was one of the first Australian students to attend NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory under a pilot program to create career pathways for Indigenous science, technology, engineering and maths students.

Most recently, Tui was a research fellow at the University of Cambridge, where he applied his skills in mathematics and his expertise in machine learning and biostatistics to tackle challenging problems relating to COVID-19 and primary immunodeficiency. During this time, Tui worked with a multidisciplinary team of researchers and clinicians to develop and implement data science algorithms that identified the major genetic factors contributing to the severity and recovery from the pandemic, as well as the extreme causes of primary immunodeficiency.

Tui has mentored Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students as they transition to university through the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research, the Aboriginal Summer School for Excellence in Technology and Science, Aurora Education Outreach, and the Galuwa Science Experience at UTS.

Tui is currently focusing on diabetes, through his work at Abbott, an international pharmaceutical company, where he is monitoring the accuracy of glucose measurements from a new blood measurement technology that does not require a finger-prick test from diabetes patients. Through his work, Tui is helping people with diabetes to live happier, healthier lives.

Aunty Dulcie Flower AM

2024

Lifetime Achievement Award

Aunty Dulcie Flower AM was born in Cairns in 1938. Aunty Dulcie’s mother was of the Meriam People of Torres Strait. Aunty Dulcie has left an indelible mark on Australian history through her unwavering dedication to activism, advocacy, and community development.

Aunty Dulcie’s Grandfather was born on Mer (Murray Island) with the family later moving to Erub (Darnley Island). Aunty Dulcie has fond memories of growing up as part of the Torres Strait Community in Cairns and enjoyed the regions multicultural atmosphere. Aunty Dulcie recalls the vibrant pearl and trochus shell industries in Cairns during her youth and how these industries, and those that worked in them, touched the lives of her family.

As the oldest in her family, Aunty Dulcie left school early to join the workforce. Whilst employed in her first role at a timber mill, Aunty Dulcie attended night school, eventually moving into office work and later becoming a registered nurse. Aunty Dulcie relocated to Sydney to advance her career by studying midwifery and working for several years as an operating room nurse.

During this time, Aunty Dulcie was invited by her Aboriginal colleagues to meet community members, leading her to join the Aborigines Progressive Association, led at the time by the late Elder Bert Groves. This led to the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI), for which Aunty Dulcie served as Conference Delegate and eventually General Secretary.

FCAATSI had a broad, progressive focus, campaigning for improved outcomes for First Nations peoples in regard to cultural recognition, industrial equality, health, legal protections, education, housing, clean water, proper waste disposal, and land ownership. FCAATSI fought to end racism and discriminatory legislation, and fought for self-determination. Notably, FCAATSI campaigned for change to the Commonwealth Constitution in 1967, resulting in a successful referendum that recognised First Nations people’s constitutional right to vote and to the provision of Commonwealth Services. This meant that for the first time Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples had the “right to choose”.

Aunty Dulcie was later invited by members of the Redfern community to participate in the planning of a community medical clinic. In collaboration with her community, South Sydney Community Aid, and doctors from Prince Wales Hospital, Aunty Dulcie helped to establish the Aboriginal Medical Service Co-operative (AMS Redfern), a vital community service. Aunty Dulcie has dedicated many years to AMS Redfern, acting as a foundation member and a volunteer, before eventually being elected Director of the AMS Redfern board, a role she continue to hold today. Aunty Dulcie has represented AMS Redfern on panels discussing health issues at all levels. Aunty Dulcie recognises her work with AMS Redfern has having inspired her later work as a Community Educator and a Health Worker Education Program Co-ordinator.

Aunty Dulcie has since connected with international organisations like the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations (UN). In attending the WHO’s workshop on Globalisation and Diabetes at Yale University, Aunty Dulcie was able to discuss health issues with a team of researchers from Sub-Saharan Nations, Vietnam, Mexico, USA, and Australia. Aunty Dulcie acted as a delegate for the UN’s End of Decade International Women’s Conference in Kenya.

Aunty Dulcie has acted in several high profile roles, including her appointment to the Torres Strait Advisory Board of ATSIC, as Regional Councillor of Sydney Regional Council, as a member of the NSW Torres Strait Islander Organisation, and as a member of the inaugural Board of Bangarra.

Throughout her career Aunty Dulcie has maintained a connection to her roots in health care and has been a member of Carers New South Wales, an honorary Fellow of the Australian College of Nursing and a foundation member of the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Nurses and Midwives. Aunty Dulcie is currently involved in a research project on Aboriginal Women Activists in Redfern.

Aunty Dulcie Flower’s contributions have been recognised on a national scale, culminating in her appointment as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2019 for her significant service to the Indigenous community and her pivotal role in the 1967 Referendum Campaign.

Amongst her many achievements, Aunty Dulcie recognises the importance of her family. Aunty Dulcie has two children, 5 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren, who she couldn’t be prouder of. Aunty Dulcie also acknowledges the people who have impacted her throughout her journey, stating:

“So I have met the most amazing people, mentored by the late, with respect, Faith Bandler, Pastor Doug Nicholls, Joe McGinness, Bert Groves, PeRl Gibbs, Aunt Geraldine Briggs, Gladys Elphick, Winnie Branson, and with colleagues including Joyce Clague, Evelyn Scott, Bruce MacGuiness, Ken Brindle, Isobel Kent, Sally Goold, Ray Peckham, Naomi Mayers and Sol Bellear.

My Torres Strait family has also mentored me and I am blessed to have the privilege of working with Aboriginal People and also with Torres Strait Islanders to gain justice and equality in this country. An important aspect has been encouraging non-Aboriginal students and professionals to work with our peoples not for them, in the ongoing struggles to achieve equality in access to the necessities of life, cultural acknowledgement and respect, freedom from racism, optimum standards of housing, health, education, clean water supply, and land ownership.”

Aunty Muriel Bamblett

2024

Person of the Year

The National NAIDOC committee are thrilled to announce Aunty Muriel Bamblett as a finalist for the Person Award category.

Aunty Muriel Bamblett is a proud Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung, Taungurung, Boon Wurrung Elder.

As CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA) since 1999, Aunty Muriel has advocated and advanced the interests of Aboriginal children and families, and has embedded culture in everything VACCA does to build resilience, self esteem, connection and belonging.

Aunty Muriel has expanded the breadth and depth of services for Aboriginal children and young people in need. The organisation has grown significantly since 1999 with over 1000 employees and over 80 programs and is the leading one of its type in Australia.

Under Aunty Muriel’s leadership, VACCA has advocated strongly for the right of Aboriginal children to be raised in his/her own culture and the importance and value of family, extended family, kinship networks, culture and community in raising or ‘growing up’ Aboriginal children.

Aunty Muriel’s impactful leadership has led to significant policy and legislative reforms. She has lobbied successfully for major changes to Victorian laws so that it now includes - recognition of connection to culture and community as critical for the best interests of Aboriginal children; decision making processes for Aboriginal children which include self-determination and the Aboriginal child placement principle; and the requirement for cultural support plans for Aboriginal children in out-of-home care.

Aunty Muriel pushed for the culmination of the Section 18 Aboriginal Children in Aboriginal Care Program, which enables the Principal Officer of VACCA (CEO) to perform functions and powers of the Secretary for authorised children. It is due to Aunty Muriel’s drive that Aboriginal Children in Aboriginal Care (Nugel) has been such a success and is the first time in Australia that State power has been transferred back to the Aboriginal community. As the child’s ‘Aboriginal guardian’ Aunty Muriel is involved with the child and makes sure they are connected to their culture, community and country, that they have strong Aboriginal role models, that they are proud and strong in their Aboriginal identity and that they know their family, their parents, their siblings and their kin, as culture starts with family, community and connection.

Aunty Muriel is a strong advocate for voice for her community and never sways in her commitment to improve outcomes for children and families. As Chairperson of the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC), the peak Australian agency for Indigenous child and family services, she has championed new approaches to federal engagement in the Aboriginal children’s agenda and supported Aboriginal communities across the country to develop and deliver innovative and effective child and family support policies and programs. Under her visionary leadership more and more Aboriginal communities picked up the challenging task of trying to ensure that their children and grandchildren were able to grow up safe, proud, confident Aboriginal people.

Aunty Muriel is actively involved on numerous State and National committees including the:

Coalition of Peaks Joint Council on Closing the Gap,

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Family Safety Committee,

Aboriginal Justice Forum,

Aboriginal Children’s Forum

Elders Voice Standing Group for the First Nations Treaty Assembly

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Family and Sexual Violence Advisory Group

Aboriginal Community Elders Service, to name a few.

Recognized for her significant contributions, Aunty Muriel received the Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2019 for distinguished service to the Indigenous community in Victoria as an advocate for the self-determination and cultural rights of children.

Aunty Muriel has been inducted into the Victorian Indigenous Honour Roll and the Victorian Honour Roll of Women and received the Women’s Electoral Lobby Inaugural Vida Goldstein Award.

Academic institutions have also recognised Aunty Muriel’s work. In 2009 La Trobe University’s Faculty of Health Sciences appointed Aunty Muriel as an Adjunct Professor in the School of Social Work and Social Policy. In 2017 the University of Sydney awarded Aunty Muriel the Doctor of Letters in Social Work, honouring her leadership in Indigenous welfare and affairs. The award recognised her efforts to bring about welfare legislation in Victoria with a fundamental commitment to the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, to their families, community, culture, and identity.

Aunty Muriel is an inspiring person, truly committed to the welfare of Aboriginal people. Through her tireless efforts, she is shaping a brighter future for Aboriginal families in Victoria, inspiring the next generation of proud, strong leaders to continue the legacy of advocacy and empowerment.

Lala Gutchen

2023

Caring for Country and Culture Award

Lala Gutchen is a proud Meuram woman from Erub Island in the Torres Strait who has worked tirelessly to protect and preserve her Country and Culture for future generations. An outstanding youth leader and bearer of cultural knowledge, Lala is dedicated to protecting her homelands and culture across the Torres Strait. As well as being a cultural knowledge holder, Lala is also a fisherwoman, a composer, a mother, a community organiser, working to become a certified linguist, and a strong advocate for the cultural rights of her people and families.

For the past three years, Lala has worked with the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation on the Erub Mer language project. Working closely with her father, Kapua Gutchen, an Erub Mer mentor and language holder, they recorded over 2000+ unrecorded words in Erub Mer. As part of her work in language preservation and education, Lala has co-authored a series of journal articles for the Foundation of Endangered Languages. In 2019 Lala was also named a Young Champion by First Languages Australia. Lala has provided mentoring as a Community Educator through Living Languages and has participated in research discovery workshops with the Queensland State Library.

Lala has worked with tech giants like Google and Apple to create the Erub Mer literacy app, in order to preserve languages for the future generations. She also recently oversaw the development of an early literacy game (app) in Erub Mer language. Lala’s goal is to see young people excited to explore their language and culture. To reach this goal Lala works tirelessly to preserve the language for future generations. Lala also represented the Torres Strait nationally at the recent Warra: Indigenous Language Youth Forum in Adelaide. Lala works with Erub community members and peers to compose new language songs and reteach old language songs in Erub Mer. Through her work as a fisherwoman and traditional gardener, Lala works on land and sea, demonstrating her exemplary strength, dedication, and her passion for preserving cultures and protecting the land.

Lala has also been a key cultural witness in a historic Queensland Land Court case, where she provided evidence for her people about the impact that the Waratah Coal’s Galilee Coal Project would have on the Torres Strait including on the islands of Erub, Poruma and Merad which are threatened by rising sea levels due to climate change. This was the first time the Queensland Land Court had travelled to listen to evidence on-Country from Traditional Owners and Lala hosted the court lawyers in her home, cooked for them and facilitated communication between the Land Court and community. The Land Court later ruled that the planned coal mine would infringe upon the rights of Torres Strait Islanders and that it would significantly contribute to Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions after the landmark on-Country visit.

Lala is a role model, leader and facilitator who represents her family, community and people. Every day she faces the difficult task of standing up for her Country and is dedicated to passing on the cultural knowledge of her Elders and ancestors to her daughter and future generations. Lala is a widely respected leader in her community for her commitment to caring for Country and language to keep culture strong.

Rachel Perkins

2023

Creative Talent Award

Rachel Perkins is a proud Arrente and Kalkadoon woman, with German and Irish heritage and is one of Australia’s most significant storytellers. She is a writer, director and producer of award-winning television drama, documentaries and feature films, such as; The Australian Wars series, Total Control, Bran Nue Dae, Radiance, Redfern Now, Mabo, Mystery Road, and First Australians. Through her career spanning over 30 years in film and media, Rachel has become an educator, leader, and mentor, inspiring the next generations of First Nations storytellers.

In much of her screen work, Rachel shares our nation’s true shared history through the voices, eyes and stories of our peoples. In 1992, Rachel founded Blackfella Films. A standout achievement for the company was the award-winning 7 part documentary series First Australians. The landmark multi-platform history series, broadcast on SBS Television to over 2.3 million viewers, was accompanied by an internationally acclaimed interactive website. First Australians was awarded Australia’s top honours for documentary including the Australian Film Institute (AFI) and IF Awards, the UN Media Peace Prize, TV Week Logie and Australian Writers and Directors Guild Awards. First Australians has sold throughout the world, and is the highest selling educational title in Australia.

Rachel has contributed to the film and television industry on most of its major boards including the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, the Australian Film Commission, Screen Australia, NITV, Indigenous Screen Australia, the National Indigenous Media Association of Australia and the NSW Film and Television Office. Rachel received the inaugural Contribution to Television IF Award, the Byron Kennedy AFI Award in 2002 and the Australian International Documentary Conference Award in 2011.

Through her on screen storytelling, Rachel takes us on an essential learning journey of shared histories that we were denied in the classroom. Through truth-telling, we are given the opportunity to acknowledge and grieve for countless crimes committed in the name of colonisation and assimilation.

In 2017 Rachel was one of six 'Inspirational Australian Women' to secure funding from Newman's Own Foundation in honour of Paul Newman’s belief that every individual has the power to make a difference. Rachel has always believed in the power of the language of her forbears, and used this funding to enable Dr Veronica Perrurle Dobson AM to update and reprint the 1994 Eastern and Central Arrernte Dictionary. This dictionary is a Keeping Place of Rachel's paternal Arrernte language, identity and cultural knowledge. Every word is contextualised into a sentence to preserve grammar with vocabulary.

Rachel's body of work and achievements include:

Commissioner - at the Australian Film Commission from 2004 to 2008

2015 President of AIATSIS Foundation

2017 was one of six 'Inspirational Australian Women' to secure funding from Newman's Own Foundation in honour of Paul Newman' s

2019 Rachel delivered the ABC's annual Boyer Lecture which she entitled: The End of Silence, The Australian Wars series.

2022 Rachel co-delivered the National Press Club Luncheon with Professor Henry Reynolds.

2022 Rachel volunteered her time to answer the questions of 14 year old Alice Springs school students about Colonisation.

Rachel is a media trailblazer for our Mob, and has dedicated both her life and career to truth-telling, ensuring our peoples stories, voices, and histories are heard and seen on screen.

Bubup Wilam Aboriginal Child and Family Centre

2023

Education Award

Bubup Wilam Aboriginal Child and Family Centre, meaning ‘Children’s Place’ in Woi Wurrung, is an Aboriginal community-controlled education, health and well-being organisation in Thomastown, Naarm (Melbourne). Bubup Wilam aims to ensure that local Aboriginal communities can make decisions that directly affect them and exercise their right to self-determination in a meaningful and effective way.

Bubup Wilam is committed to working with families to raise strong, proud, and deadly kids in a culturally rich and supportive educational environment. Bubup Wilam enables children to begin their journey to reach their full human potential at an early age. Bubup Wilam reinforce children’s strong sense of Aboriginal identities and personal self-esteem and helps to lay the foundation for lifelong learning, health and well-being. Bubup Wilam do this by providing quality, culturally safe, and accessible care and education for children aged 0-5 years.

As an accredited and culturally safe education facility for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, children are given space to lead learning and teaching activities, to be themselves, to play and explore in a way that builds upon their strong and proud Aboriginal identities in partnership with their families.

Children’s Aboriginal identities are the catalyst that underpins their educational program and their experience at Bubup Wilam. This includes ensuring children’s curriculum is underpinned by truth-telling of the history of this country and supporting children with the skills and knowledge to thrive in a world that denies who they are. Bubup Wilam further integrates this through their incredible Connection to Country program, taking children out of the classroom one day a week to learn in and from Country. To further strengthen community cohesion and solidarity, children are informed about their kinship and community ties through ancestry maps and photographs.

Their work doesn't end there. Bubup Wilam is one of only three service providers in the country to offer preventive and early childhood intervention services. This includes allied health services such as hearing tests, speech pathologists, visits to general practitioners, a comprehensive primary school integration program, and access to other health care services without fear, shame, racism, and without the burden of additional, often prohibitive, time-consuming costs and need to take time off work.

Bubup Wilam works to eliminate cultural biases and privileges within the education system, and strengthen community values of cohesion and resilience, building stronger communities now and in the future. Each child at Bubup Wilam holds a valuable place in cultural continuity with the ability to thrive in society. Bubup Wilam raises children to be confident, determined and strong, knowing they reflect the strengths of their ancestors and with the mindset and resilience to act like little leaders now and as influential Elders in the future.

Aunty Dr Matilda House-Williams

2023

Female Elder of the Year

Aunty Dr Matilda House-Williams is a proud Ngambri (Kamberri) Wallabalooa (Ngunnawal) and Wiradyuri Elder. She is, and always was, a powerhouse for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advocacy. Aunty Dr Matilda was born in 1945 on Erambie Aboriginal Mission at Cowra in country New South Wales and is 1 of 10 children. She was raised in her grandparents’ house at Hollywood Aboriginal Reserve in Yass, NSW, and was taken to Parramatta Girls Home when she was 12. Aunty Dr Matilda returned to her Ancestral Country in Canberra in 1963 and has been actively involved in Indigenous Affairs in the Canberra region since.

After returning to Canberra, in the early 1960s, Aunty Dr Matilda married and began raising her family of four children on Ngambri Country. In the mid to late 1960’s up until 1967, Aunty Dr Matilda worked behind the scenes in the community and Canberra region to help educate Australians on the Yes vote for the 1967 Referendum. In the early 1970’s she began working as an Aboriginal liaison/social officer at the Department of Aboriginal Affairs in Canberra, assisting Aboriginal people with health, education, welfare and employment.

In 1972, Aunty Dr Matilda was also one of the original protestors who established the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in 1972. Aunty Dr Matilda and the Williams family provided leadership and family support during the establishment of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy on the Lawns of Old Parliament House. Aunty Dr Matilda was also part of establishing the Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) in the 1980s, and has continued this work more recently through her membership of the Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee.

Dr Aunty Matilda played a key role in establishing Winnunga-Nimmityjah Aboriginal and Community Services in 1982. The Aboriginal Health Service (AMS) is still serving the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community today. Aunty Dr Matilda also founded the Ngambri Land Council in Queanbeyan NSW in 1984, alongside her two brothers. To this day, the Land Council continues to support the local community.

Aunty Dr Matilda also has deep care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth and young people, and plays a key role in working with schools, families and the education system to ensure that all young First Nations people have the right and access to education, which our people were once denied. Notably, Aunty Dr Matilda established the Tjabal Indigenous Higher Education Centre at the Australian National University (ANU) in 1989, which still provides support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students today.

Aunty Dr Matilda has also served on the first ACT Heritage Council, the Queanbeyan Regional Council of the former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), the Ngambri Local Aboriginal Land Council, the Tent Embassy Advisory Committee and the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Consultative Council. She has also acted as an ACT honorary ambassador.

As is her door, the gate to Aunty Matilda’s country has always been open to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It is reflected in her support of the 1992 Mabo decision and the 1996 Wik decision where Aunty Matilda supported the families and celebrated with them, the iconic victories. Aunty Matilda is vocal supporter for the inclusion of Torres Islander peoples and culture.

In 1997, Aunty Dr Matilda’s involvement in Indigenous Affairs led to her delivering the Welcome to Country at Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation's ‘Sea of Hands’ installation, and contributing to the Bringing Them Home report into the Stolen Generations.

Aunty Dr Matilda has conducted the Welcome to Country Ceremony protocol for many significant events such as the opening of the Tjabal Centre at the ANU, opening of the Ngunnawal Student Centre at the University of Canberra in 1990, Nelson Mandela’s visit to Australia in 1990, and the Dalai Lama’s visit in 1992.

In 2006, Aunty Dr Matilda was named Canberra Citizen of the Year by ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope MLA. She accepted the award wearing traditional possum skins, gaining a standing ovation from over 400 people.

In February 2008, On the Eve of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations, Aunty Matilda became the first person to perform the Welcome to Country protocol at the opening of the 42nd Parliament of Australia. Since then, Aunty Matilda has opened the 43rd, 44th and 47th Parliament of Australia. During her opening of the 47th Parliament of Australia, robed in her iconic possum skin cloak, and supported by her family, she passed down the responsibility to her son, Paul Girrawah House – to carry on this cultural tradition into the future.

In 2017, Aunty Dr Matilda’s lifelong commitment to her community was recognised by the ANU, with the conferral of the Degree of Doctor. In the little spare time she has in her ‘retirement’, Aunty Dr Matilda also illustrates children’s books. This has included the Tales of Ngambri History series, that are now circulated in ACT schools and painted works that have been in exhibitions. Dr House-Williams shares and promotes an understanding and respect for Ngambri, Wallabalooa and Wiradyuri cultures through education. She has also been enjoying spending her ‘down time’ time making traditional possum skin cloaks.

Aunty Dr Matilda continues to work tirelessly in her community, providing advice, mentorship and support to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who ask. Those who know her personally vouch that she does not rest and continues to work for First Nations Peoples without any days off. Aunty Dr Matilda opens her heart, her home and Country to all community who need her.

Despite the adversity and challenges that she endured for being born into a generation that didn’t accept her, Dr Matilda House-Williams faced these head on, blazing new trails in the process. Aunty Matilda is a proud, strong, kind, yet fierce Blak Matriarch, who has created a legacy by forging new pathways for First Nations Women and our Mobs more broadly.

Daniel Motlop

2023

Innovation Award

Daniel Motlop is a Larrakia man from Darwin, Northern Territory who now calls Kaurna Country home, in Adelaide, South Australia. Growing up in Darwin, Daniel learned to appreciate the natural abundance around him learning to identify bush apples, billy goat plum, native passionfruit and to hunt for magpie goose and barra. After a long and successful career as a professional AFL player for Port Adelaide Power and North Melbourne, Daniel has shifted his focus to Indigenous social enterprise in the food and beverage industry.

Daniel is the co-founder and General Manager of Something Wild Australia, alongside his brothers Steven, Shannon and their father Eddie. Something Wild are an Indigenous food and beverage company who specialise in game meats and native greens and are at the forefront of supplying Indigenous foods to restaurants and consumer around Australia. Additionally, Something Wild have built strong relationships with Indigenous communities which allows them to promote and supply unique produce from one of the world’s oldest cultures. Not only does this provide Something Wild’s customers with the opportunity to experience products that celebrate Indigenous culture, it also provides positive opportunities and outcomes for many rural and remote Mob communities.

Over the last six years, Daniel has innovated the way that native Australian ingredients are used in the mainstream food and wine industry. Through Something Wild, Daniel shares his extensive knowledge of unique Native ingredients including magpie goose, kangaroo, wild boar, green ants, native greens, herbs and spices, kakadu plums and bush apples. Something Wild were the first food business in Australia to acquire the permit to harvest and sell magpie goose from up north. Daniel has also developed and established the range of Something Wild’s consumer facing products, such as Seven Seasons Spirits and Native fruit flavoured yogurts. This has allowed for more of these uniquely Native Australian food ingredients to be introduced to mainstream Australian consumers. Daniel has also been involved in the establishment of a horticultural enterprise which develops methods of growing more mainstream native plants in greenhouses to allow for reliable harvest volumes and product specification. This innovation helps to ensure a more sustainable harvest.

In addition to working with native ingredients, Daniel has developed a community of First Nations harvesters which crucially allows for industry, and consequently economic development, to be established on country for the benefit of local Aboriginal people. Most ingredients are wild harvested and, Daniel provides job opportunities to First Nations people. This not only creates jobs but also keeps age-old traditions alive by introducing them to a new generation.

Daniel says “We want to get to a stage where native ingredients are like regular fruit and veg.” Daniel believes that there’s space in every Australian household for ingredients that have sustainably nourished Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for thousands of years.

Aunty Dr Naomi Mayers OAM

2023

Lifetime Achievement Award

Aunty Dr Naomi Mayers OAM, is a proud Yorta Yorta and Wiradjuri woman, born in 1941 on Erambie Mission, just outside of Cowra in country New South Wales. Aunty Dr Naomi has dedicated her life to the advancement of Indigenous health and is a leader in Aboriginal affairs.

Aunty Dr Naomi has developed and led some of the most enduring and fundamentally profound reforms in Aboriginal and Torres Strait health, both in terms of community-controlled services and the broader Australian health system.

At the age of 18, Aunty Naomi began her work in health as a nurse, working at the Royal Women’s Hospital and Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, the Home Hill Hospital in Queensland and St Andrews Hospital in East Melbourne. She was also a board member of the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

In addition to her contributions to healthcare and education, Aunty Dr Naomi was also a founding member of The Sapphires, the ground-breaking all-Aboriginal music group from country Victoria that gained international recognition for their soulful harmonies and powerful performances. The group performed defiantly at a time when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and issues were both ignored or not spoken about.

Aunty Dr Naomi was one of the founders and a pioneering force in establishing the Aboriginal Medical Service Redfern (AMS) in 1971. The AMS Redfern was the first Aboriginal medical service and has since become a service model for community controlled health services that underpins the principles of self-determination. The service provides culturally appropriate healthcare to Indigenous people and has been instrumental in improving health outcomes for Aboriginal communities throughout Australia.

Aunty Dr Naomi dedicated 45 years to the Redfern AMS and service to the community. She started out as an Administrator, and in 2012 went on to become the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) before her retirement in 2017. Throughout her career at the AMS, Aunty Dr Naomi guided the transformation of the AMS from a small shop-front into a national network of services.

Aunty Dr Naomi has been one of the principal figures behind a number of Redfern's community development projects, including those which established the Murawina pre-school program in 1973 and the Aboriginal Housing Company in 1976.

Aunty Dr Naomi is a founding member of the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of NSW, the National Aboriginal and Islander Health Organisation (NAIHO) (now the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation), was founding president of the Federation for Aboriginal Women and a member of the first ATSIC Regional Council for Metropolitan Sydney.

As an authority on Aboriginal health issues, she proved an influential witness during the inquiries of the 1977 House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal Health. In 1981 she was appointed as a consultant by the Royal Australian College of Ophthalmologists.

In 1984, Aunty Dr Naomi was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in recognition of her services to the community.

As Chair of the National Aboriginal Health Strategy Working Party in 1988-9, Aunty Dr Naomi worked with state and community representatives to develop the National Aboriginal Health Strategy. Under her leadership, that pivotal report introduced innovative Aboriginal health sector reforms that continue to shape the nature, range and delivery of health services to this day.

In 2017, Aunty Naomi was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) from the University of Sydney for her work delivering and transforming Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health care. At this time, Aunty Dr Naomi already held a doctorate in Aboriginal Affairs from Tranby Aboriginal College in Sydney.

Aunty Dr Naomi has dedicated her life to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advancement, health, education and policy. She has guided, advocated, argued for and supported Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across the nation to build a healthier future.

William Tilmouth

2023

Male Elder of the Year

William Tilmouth is an Arrernte man, born in Mparntwe (Alice Springs), Northern Territory. As a member of the Stolen Generations, William was taken to Croker Island Mission where he lived and attended school. Five of his siblings were taken to Adelaide and he and two brothers to the other end of the country north of Darwin. In 1967, he was moved off the Mission to Darwin, and ended up in the juvenile justice system for leaving the mission home. He attended the Aboriginal Community College in Adelaide in 1974 and worked in many jobs in South Australia. In 1980 he returned home to Alice Springs, and hasn’t left since. William worked for Tangentyere Council as a community worker, supporting people who were homeless by creating shelters and providing access to basic needs and also at the Alice Springs Youth Support Services supporting young people at risk. He was elected by the Elders and offered the opportunity to become the Executive Director of Tangentyere Council - a position he held from 1988-2010. William was also elected to the Central Australian ATSIC Regional Chair position, the Chair of Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Service and sat on a range of committees including housing and research ethics committees. After his time at Tangentyere Council, William became the Chair of Central Australian Aboriginal Congress Health Service.

Since 2011, William has been the founding Chair of the ground breaking organisation Children’s Ground. Children’s Ground was designed by First Nations people for First Nations people - our solution for our people. It is designed to disrupt the status quo and create transformational change for future generations so that they can enjoy justice, opportunity and agency over their lives.

Following the vision and direction from Elders, Children’s Ground is an ambitious 25-year strategy that supports each child and family within a whole of community approach. Children’s Ground honours culture, language and identity, delivering access to education, health, cultural and economic opportunities. Led by local communities, the solutions are found in our culture, through our land, our kinship, our lores and our knowledge systems. Through William’s leadership people are empowered to practice self-determination, uplifting local community governance which is thriving and is the heart and soul of Children’s Ground.

William is a recognised and respected leader in the Northern Territory and throughout Australia. He has dedicated his life to his people to prevent the trauma of previous generations. As a member of the Stolen Generations, William has overcome poverty, incarceration, injustice and inequality and has survived trauma to become a respected role model for Arrernte and all First Nations people.

More recently, he was a key advisor for the 2019 film In My Blood It Runs.

William’s work will ensure that future generations of First Nations children can exercise their rights and their voice, their culture and their identity.

Professor Kelvin Kong

2023

Person of the Year

Professor Kelvin Kong is a Worimi man who grew up on Country in Port Stephens, on the New South Wales mid-north-coast. Kelvin graduated from the University of New South Wales to become Australia's first Indigenous surgeon. He credits his mother, Grace Kinsella, a pioneering Indigenous registered nurse, for inspiring him and his older sisters, twins Marlene and Marilyn, to become doctors. Their father, Kong Cheok Seng, a Malaysian Chinese man, is also a doctor.

Professor Kong, now works on Awabakal and Worimi Country, and is associated with the University of Newcastle's School of Medicine and Public Health. He is an Otolaryngology, Head and Neck surgeon and a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS). Kelvin works at Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital and John Hunter Children’s Hospital, and he explains that hearing loss, often caused by Otitis Media (middle ear disease), significantly contributes to poor educational outcomes for children and can lead to higher unemployment rates in adults as a result. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children experience the highest levels of chronic otitis media in the world, affecting up to 70% of children in remote communities.

Determined to change the statistics, Dr Kong has dedicated his career to early intervention. Dr Kong says “If we can reduce the risk of hearing loss, we can have a direct impact on a child's ability to learn and develop. The change that we see is remarkable - we can take them from limited hearing and language skills to fully functioning teenagers with real employment prospects”.

Dr Kong is passionate about addressing the disparity in health outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children. Each year, he spends a portion of his time working in, and for, remote Indigenous communities providing access to quality healthcare that would otherwise be limited or completely unavailable. This includes visiting the Kimberley’s each year to perform specialist consultations and surgery.

He is also passionate about improving pathways into specialist medical training and improving Indigenous workforce across the health and research sector. Dr Kong mentors high school students to encourage more Indigenous people to consider careers in medicine and surgery.

In 2011, Dr Kong joined other medical practitioners in the Care for Kids' Ears campaign to address the ongoing issues experienced by remote communities. The campaign was designed to encourage communities to be empowered with resources and information about ear health to reduce the risk of ear disease and hearing loss. Dr Kong is passionate in his advocacy in which he centres the importance of working together as a community - "When we work together with a community, we can address all the issues that arise from ear disease. Our job is to improve kids' health so they can get the education they need."

Some of Dr Kong's many roles include:

First ever identified Indigenous Fellow, and current Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee for the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons’ (RACS).

Examiner, Royal Australasian College Surgeons

Mentor Surgical Pathways for Indigenous Australians

Public and Private practice in Newcastle, at Hunter ENT Surgery

Professor and mentor at the University of Newcastle

Honorary Professor Macquarie University

Associate Professor UNSW

Clinical lead, ENT Outreach services HNELHD

Indigenous Lead, Australian Society Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery

Researcher; Successful in numerous NHMRC grants, awards and collaboration

Chair, Advisory Group for reporting on the Ear and Hearing Health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Member, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ear and Hearing Health Partnership Committee

Served on multiple advisory boards and committee’s including the Indigenous Health and Fellowship Services Committee

Previous Board member for the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence (NCIE)

Previous Board member Cancer Australia’s Advisory Board

Previous Board Member Hearing Australia

Previous secretary of Australia and New Zealand Society Paediatric Otolaryngology (ANZSPO)

Recently, Dr Kong received an Honour Roll mention for Australian of the Year

Many of our young Mob are labelled as problems, too difficult, described as having learning difficulties, or as not wanting to learn. The truth is that due to the complex legacy of colonisation, under-funded communities, and racism, many of our young people are living with undiagnosed and treatable medical issues that create barriers to learning, education, employment and healthy living.

It is Dr Kong’s goal to ensure that these barriers are eradicated and that our Mob have equal access to quality health care to enable them to have every opportunity in life.

Donnell Wallam

2023

Sportsperson of the Year

Donnell Wallam is a proud Noongar woman from Korijekup, Western Australia, a small town 2 hours south of Boorloo (Perth). Donnell is a professional netballer and sharp shooter for the Australian Diamonds and the Queensland Firebirds. She was only the second Indigenous Suncorp Super Netball Player and third Indigenous woman to play netball for Australia. She is one of the most well-known and respected goalers in the Suncorp Super Netball competition.

Donnell was picked as a replacement player for the Queensland Firebirds’ 2022 Suncorp Super Netball campaign, where she scored 519 goals and was the fourth-highest scorer in the competition. Her tally included 26 super shots (two-point goals) and 35 offensive rebounds, the third-highest tally in the 2022 season. This led her to be a training partner for Australia’s netball squad for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

Donnell takes every opportunity to share her culture and identity, and revealed a unique Deadly Choices uniform designed by Aboriginal artist Rachael Sarra, in the Suncorp Super Netball’s First Nations round in March this year.

Donnell also exemplified incredible strength and staunch advocacy late last year when she sought an exemption from wearing an Australian Diamonds dress featuring the logo of sponsor Hancock Prospecting. This was due to the attitude deceased company founder, Lang Hancock, had expressed towards Aboriginal people on television in the 1980s. While the company pulled the $15 million sponsorship, four days later, Donnell debuted for the Diamonds in a Test match against England in Newcastle, coming off the bench to score the winning goal in the last seconds of the game. Additionally, Visit Victoria provided sponsorship of $15 million to secure the 2022 Super Netball grand final as well as several Diamonds matches and camps in the lead up to the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Donnell and her Queensland Firebirds teammates are active members of the community who attend and participate in netball coaching clinics in regional and remote Queensland. Both Donnell and the Firebirds engage with the local community, business leaders, and inspire young netballers to chase their dreams.

Donnell is also a proud ambassador for Deadly Choices. Together with her Firebirds teammate Gabi Simpson, the deadly duo empower Mob to make positive health decisions, and unveiled the Firebirds’ new Deadly Choices shirt earlier this year.

Netball has given Donnell the opportunity to be an advocate for her community and culture and to be a strong role model for young people all over the Country. Donnell has used her status as a professional athlete to progress and advocate pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander netballers. Donnell embraces the opportunity to highlight sporting issues such as athlete pathways as well as important broader social issues.

Courtney Burns

2023

Youth of the Year

Courtney Burns is a 25 year old Gunaikurnai woman (land and sea country) from South Gippsland, Victoria. Courtney is currently studying Marine Science at James Cook University (JCU) in Townsville, Queensland, and assisting in the shark research lab in Townsville.

Courtney is deeply passionate about ocean Country health, and interested in the links between elasmobranchs, ocean country and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Elasmobranchii is a class of cartilaginous fishes, including sharks, skates and rays. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been living off sea country since time immemorial, yet there is no evidence in scientific literature of relationships, positive or negative, with sharks.

Courtney’s goal is to continue her research to be able to change the way the world sees sharks. She aims to promote action in their conservation by understanding the physiological effects of anthropogenic stressors (like climate change) on sharks, and how she can bring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures into scientific literature to further aid this goal.

Courtney’s recent achievements include:

2022/2023 – Aurora Internship Program; where she was placed within the ‘Physioshark’ team. Assisting with ‘Epaulette shark’ research projects and husbandry care of ‘Epaulette sharks’ and ‘Cinnamon Clown fish’; whilst tackling a metadata analysis on neonate blacktip reef sharks, focusing on their body condition (health).

Indigenous Academic Achievement Award for Marine Science 2022 at the annual awards ceremony for the Indigenous Education and Research Centre (IERC) at JCU.

Google Future Leaders in STEM Scholarship 2022.

Recognised and acknowledged by CSIRO for Academic Excellence and offered a casual Research Technician position with the Predator Population team in the Environment business unit.

Courtney also recently received a promotion from volunteer to Assistant Lab Manager/Volunteer Coordinator at the Rummer Lab at James Cook University within the Physioshark program.

In September 2022, Google and Aurora Education Foundation announced their STEM Scholarship recipients. Courtney was one of only three Aboriginal women selected as Google 2022 STEM scholars. This scholarship assists Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university students who aspire to work in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Recipients of the scholarship receive assistance through funding which supports them throughout their studies.

As a James Cook University Student Ambassador, Courtney inspires other young First Nations people to consider tertiary education as an option for their future. Courtney also assists with University activities including career expos, recruitment events, school visits, campus tours, sponsorship events and more.

Courtney encourages excellence from fellow Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students by co-creating a supportive community via an Indigenous student association focusing on group study sessions, social sports, and gatherings online and in person.

The links between Ocean Country and our Mob have been known to us for a very long time. However, Courtney, through her research, studies and conservation, aims to bring these relationships to the forefront of mainstream scientific literature and ensure that First Nations knowledge is leading solutions to issues (such as climate change) affecting both our Mob, and the world.

Patricia O'Connor

2014

Female Elder of the Year

Rory O'Connor accepting the award on behalf of Patricia O'Connor.

Known for being a quiet achiever, Patricia O’Connor is the inspirational woman behind the Kombumerri Aboriginal Corporation for Culture.

An idea discussed around the dining table one evening in the early 1980’s has grown into one of Australia’s most successful Aboriginal-owned language centres, and is a major contributor to the Indigenous cultural landscape of south east Queensland.

The corporation trades by the name Yugambeh Museum. It is a language and heritage research centre and is the major source of information for researchers of Yugambeh cultural heritage. Patricia has been the driving force behind the Kombumerri Aboriginal Corporation for Culture.

The Museum aims to record and promote the traditional knowledge of its region, especially the Yugambeh language, which was traditionally spoken throughout south east Queensland. The museum has developed language awareness and other programs, linking with many of the schools, government and community organisations in and around the Gold Coast, Beenleigh and Beaudesert area. The Museum also assists Aboriginal youth with employment and training opportunities, and helps community members trace their own family stories.

Patricia has brought the stories of her community alive through her passion for curating interesting material for community. During her time with Kombumerri, Patricia has overseen 20 distinct and significant exhibitions – consisting of more than 300 panels and single photo items, at an average of one exhibition every two years.

Currently, Patricia is working with younger generations to create a new community movement called Yugambeh Mobo. Yugambeh Mobo is a campaign to unite the community through cultural pride from the past to our tomorrow. Yugambeh mobo aims to ensure Aboriginal culture, concepts and values are part of the south-east Queensland story.

Wayne Quilliam

2009

Artist of the Year

Wayne Quilliam has been working on the Australian and international scene for more than 15 years, establishing a reputation as one of Australia’s leading photographers.

Wayne is a prolific artist. He has been published in more than 500 publications and has had exhibitions in Europe, USA, Asia, South America and Australia.

In 2008, Wayne was selected as the official photographer to record the Prime Minister’s Motion of Apology to the Stolen Generations. In 2009 Wayne used these images to develop the Sorry…more than a word exhibition, which was opened by the Prime Minister.

His European tour featured 80 images of Indigenous celebrations which are now included in permanent collections throughout Europe and in public displays.

Wayne’s international show, Lowanna, was first opened in Mexico by the Australian Ambassador and is now included in the permanent Australian Embassy Collection. Two alternative series of Lowanna took him again to Europe.

Wayne has also worked with high-profile celebrities, including a photo shoot with actor Russell Crowe and serving as the art ambassador for a tour of Australian rock bands Silverchair and Powderfinger.

Earlier this year, Wayne was a key speaker at the International Photographic Festival in Melbourne, making him the first Indigenous artist to do so.

Currently based in Melbourne, Wayne has spent more than 20 years working with more than 50 different communities throughout Australia, conducting talks and photography workshops in rural, remote and urban areas.

Wayne’s goal is to create opportunities for youth to showcase their talent and culture within Indigenous and mainstream areas.

Taking every experience in his Stride, Wayne follows his own life motto that there isn’t a day that goes by when you haven’t learnt something.

Lowitja O'Donoghue

2009

Lifetime Achievement Award

Born in Indulkana in 1932, Lowitja O’Donoghue was separated from her family at a young age and put in the care of missionaries at Colebrook Children’s home at Quorn.

Lowitja’s career, which spans almost 60 years, began as a nurse at the Royal Adelaide Hospital where, despite the racial discrimination at the time, she reached the position of Charge Sister.

After going to work with the Mother Teresa program in India in 1961, Lowitja returned to Australia to work as a trained nurse and welfare officer in remote Aboriginal communities. It was during her 10 years in this work that she built a reputation for her ability to advocate for justice for Indigenous people. This ability shone through in her campaigning on the 1967 Referendum, a turning point in the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

In 1972 Lowitja accepted a position as Senior Liaison Officer for the newly-created Department of Aboriginal Affairs. She saw this as a great opportunity to use her skills, passion and commitment to advance the rights of Indigenous people.

Breaking new ground for Indigenous women at the national level, Lowitja became the fulltime chairperson of the National Aboriginal Conference in 1976. Lowitja continued to take on senior leadership roles and positions among prominent agencies in Aboriginal affairs, including Aboriginals Hostels and the Aboriginal Development Commission.

In 1990 Lowitja was appointed the inaugural chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. During her six years as Chairperson of ATSIC, Lowitja won universal admiration for her leadership, tenacity and integrity. A highlight was her pivotal role in the tense and complex negotiations which enabled the creation and passing of Prime Minister Keating’s native title legislation.

In 2000, Lowitja played a key advisory role in the lead up to the Sydney Olympic Games as Chairperson of the Sydney Olympic Games National Indigenous Advisory Committee and a member of the Sydney Olympic Games Volunteers Committee. Lowitja also carried the torch through Uluru during the Australian leg of the relay.

Lowitja’s skills, knowledge and experience continue to be highly sought after by the highest levels of government.

In 2008, Prime Minister Rudd sought Lowitja’s counsel in preparation for the historic Apology to the Stolen Generations.

Lowitja’s many successes and work on behalf of her people have been justly recognised by the large number of awards and honours she has received in her career.

To mention just a few: she was appointed a member of the Order of Australia in 1977, won the Advance Australia award in 1982, was named Australian of the Year in 1984 and became a National Living Treasure in 1998.

These awards acknowledge Lowitja’s distinguished leadership in Indigenous affairs, as well as her extraordinary ability to overcome adversity and to break down the barriers.

History will judge Lowitja as one of the great and sustaining forces for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Reg Knox

2009

Male Elder of the Year

Reginald Roy Knox, or Uncle Reg, was born in 1934 at Toomelah Aboriginal Mission. He has lived in Logan City for the past 40 years, winning admiration and respect over a long period for his outstanding artwork, contribution to the community and commitment to working with young people.

Uncle Reg’s artistic ability is recognised locally, nationally and internationally with many of his works being sold and shown in galleries here and overseas. Among his many art awards and honours, Uncle Reg was commissioned in 1986 to produce an artwork as a gift for Pope John Paul the Second on his Papal visit to Australia.

Through his art, Uncle Reg has been involved with many institutions including schools, disabled and respite centres, jails and museums. Reg has spent many years working with secondary school students at risk.

A quiet achiever, Uncle Reg has worked voluntarily for many years to assist many community organisations, building bridges between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

In 1998, Uncle Reg started his own business at the ripe age of 64.When most are thinking of retirement, Uncle Reg felt there was still so much to do and so retirement was not an option for him.

Uncle Reg is one of the few speakers of the Koomiloroi language. His dream is to find funding to record Koomiloroi so that the language is there for the generations to come. He feels that traditional language is an important part of cultural identity.

Uncle Reg’s philosophy is that we are all here together and we should try to put the problems of the past behind us. There is a great future ahead of us all.

Larissa Behrendt

2009

Person of the Year

Lawyer and author Larissa Behrendt is a passionate and articulate advocate for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Larissa is Professor of Law and Director of Research at the Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning at Sydney’s University of Technology.

Larissa’s academic achievements alone have made her stand out. After gaining a diploma in practical legal training and graduating from the University of New South Wales Law School in 1992, Larissa went on to graduate from Harvard Law School with a Master and then a Doctorate of Laws.

She is admitted to the NSW and ACT Supreme Courts and is a Judicial Member and Alternate Chair of the Serious Offenders Review Council and a Land Commissioner of the Land and Environment Court.

As well as practising law, Larissa also teaches the subject, finding time to mentor young Aboriginal law students. Her excellence was recognised in 2002 when Larissa was announced co-winner of the inaugural Neville Bonner National Teaching Award.

During the past decade, Larissa has provided a powerful insight on major Indigenous issues and government policies in Indigenous affairs.

She has written books and articles on property law, indigenous rights, dispute resolution and Aboriginal women’s issues. Larissa leads and edits various policy journals out of Jumbunna, and has a regular column in the National Indigenous Times newspaper.

Larissa’s first fiction novel, “Home”, received great reviews for helping people understand the complexity of life for Indigenous people in Australia. The novel won the 2002 David Unaipon Award, the 2005 Commonwealth Writer’s prize for south East Asia and the Pacific best novel award.

Larissa has recently been selected to chair a committee for the Australian Research Council.

Larissa is also the inaugural Chair of National Indigenous Television, Director of Bangarra Dance Theatre and Sydney Writers Festival as well as serving on the board of the Museum of Contemporary Art.

It’s a demanding schedule, but with her talent and drive, you can be sure that Larissa will continue to be at the forefront in the national discussion of Indigenous issues and policies.

Dr Chelsea Bond

2009

Scholar of the Year

Dr Chelsea Bond is an Aboriginal and South Sea Islander Australian and a descendant of the Munanjahli people of Beaudesert. Born and raised in Brisbane, Chelsea has forged a career in Indigenous health over the past decade working in both the government and university sectors across south-east Queensland.

Chelsea has always been determined to forge her own path. Chelsea first graduated from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Applied Health Science in 1998, aged only 19. She went on to graduate with First Class Honours in 2001 for her thesis examining the impact of racism and social exclusion on health outcomes in a rural Aboriginal community.

In 2007, Chelsea was awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy, with a thesis examining the construction of Aboriginality within the public health sector. Her research focused on highlighting the cultural strengths of the community she calls home – Inala.

Her thesis was rated among the top 10 per cent at the University of Queensland in her year.

Over the years Chelsea has won numerous scholarships and awards and has had her work published in many key health and medical research journals.

Chelsea has dedicated a lot of time to voluntary work. She established and continues to manage an Indigenous Community Development association in Inala, providing a range of sporting, cultural and training opportunities.

Chelsea is currently pursuing a post-doctoral fellowship to evaluate the public health benefit of a major community cultural development program including an Indigenous hip hop festival. In the future she hopes to work in Indigenous affairs to continue building upon the strengths of the community sector.

Chelsea believes that her success is not measured by personal achievements and recognition but by the achievements of those around her.