MAIAM NAYRI WINGARA IS OVERSEEN BY A CORE WORKING GROUP. our 2023 executive Members are:
Bhiamie Williamson
Bhiamie Williamson is a Euahlayi man from north-west NSW. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from the Australian National University, Master's in Indigenous Governance from the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and Graduate Certificates from the University of Arizona (Indigenous Governance) and the University of Wollongong (Trauma and Recovery Practice).
Bhiamie is a PhD candidate at the Australian National University investigating Indigenous men and masculinities. Bhaimie is a Research Fellow at Monash University where he leads the National Indigenous Disaster Resilience Project.
Bobby Maher
PhD Candidate, National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research, College of Health and Medicine, Australian National University
Bobby is an Aboriginal woman (Yamatji), her ancestral links are to the Kimberley, Pilbara and Noongar Nations.
Bobby is a PhD candidate and National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research, Australian National University; her research has a focus on collective capability in Indigenist evaluation practice in Australia.
Bobby has completed a MPhil in Applied Epidemiology and a Bachelor of Applied Science (Indigenous Australian Research) (Honours), Curtin University. She has experience in quantitative, qualitative and community-based participatory research, including evaluation. Bobby is a member of the Maiam nayri Wingara Indigenous Data Sovereignty Collective and the Global Indigenous Data Alliance (GIDA).
Cassandra Price
Dr Cassandra Price is a proud Muruwari/Gangugari woman and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the School of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania. Cassandra’s research focuses on operationalising Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Indigenous Data Governance within organisations.
Cassandra has developed and implemented Indigenous Data Governance policies, structures, and processes to support Indigenous Data Sovereignty within Government, Non-Government Agency settings and with Traditional Owners.
Cassandra has worked across multiple disciplines, including climate ecology, natural resource management, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data development. Cassandra has extensive experience in strategic research and policy development and has held executive and advisory roles across Non-Government and Government Agencies.
Karen Martin
Dr Karen Martin is a Noonuccal, Quandamoopah and Bidjara woman. She has taught in all sectors of education and her foci are early childhood education, Aboriginal education, and Aboriginal research. Her career also includes Ministerial appointments (Australian Government) providing expert advice on Aboriginal affairs, education (systems, professions), Aboriginal research and research ethics.
Karen’s scholarship is internationally known, particularly work on decolonising western research paradigms, methodologies and ethics. She continues to apply this scholarship to roles her roles as Executive Committee member (Maiam nayri Wingara) and Acting Chair: Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (Australian Government Department of Social Services – now spanning 20 years).
Additionally, this expertise was recognised when she was the only Aboriginal education researcher invited to the series of Closing the Gap Data Refresh Roundtables (Australian Government, 2018). As an Executive member of the Maiam nayri Wingara Indigenous Data Sovereignty Collective Karen contributes this experience to activities of knowledge generation and translation towards achieving data sovereignty for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Gawaian Bodkin Andrews
Gawaian Bodkin-Andrews, of the D'harawal nation, is a researcher and lecturer whose outputs are increasingly encapsulating and promoting Aboriginal Australian standpoints and perspectives across a diversity of disciplines (most notably education and psychology). Gawaian has managed and led numerous research grants investigating a diversity of topics including mental health, mentoring, identity, Traditional Knowledges, education, and racism.
His projects have led to the development of a strong foundation in developing robust and diverse research designs, with an increasing dedication to Indigenous Research Methodologies. From this framework, he is continually developing his experience in applying quantitative and qualitative methods within his scholarly work.
His research has also attracted a number of national and international awards (including the AARE Betty-Watts Indigenous Researcher award), and he has produced the Healing the Wounds of the Heart documentary focusing on developing resiliency against racism (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0RosRz_HtQ) for Aboriginal youth.
Jacob Prehn
Dr. Jacob Prehn is a proud Worimi man born and raised on Palawa Country. He is the inaugural Associate Dean Indigenous for the College of Arts, Law, and Education (CALE) and a Senior Lecturer – Indigenous Fellow in Social Work at the University of Tasmania. He is an award-winning Early Career Researcher with over $1.3M in competitive research grants.
Jacob’s research goals are to empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to achieve their hopes, dreams, and aspirations. His publications include quantitative and qualitative data, and he explores a range of topics including Indigenous data sovereignty, health and wellbeing, education, critical sociology and social work, and strengths-based approaches
Maggie Walter
Maggie Walter (PhD; FASSA) is Palawa, a member of the Briggs Aboriginal family in Lutruwita/Tasmania.
Maggie is a Distinguished Professor of Sociology Emerita at the University of Tasmania and was appointed a Commissioner with the Yoorrook Justice Commission in 2021.
Maggie is a founding member of the Indigenous Data Sovereignty group in Australia (Maiam Nayri Wingara) and an executive member of the Global Indigenous Data Alliance (GIDA).
Makayla-May Brinckley
Makayla-May Brinckley is a Wiradjuri woman from Cootamundra. Makayla is a PhD student and research assistant in the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research, at the Australian National University.
Most of Makayla’s work is based within Mayi Kuwayu: the National Study of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander wellbeing.
Makayla’s PhD focuses on developing a knowledge translation method for use in the Mayi Kuwayu Study. She is passionate about holistic health and wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Peta MacGillivray
Peta MacGillivray (BA/LLB; Grad. Dip Legal Prac; LLM; PhD Candidate) is a Kalkutungu and South Sea Islander lawyer and researcher based in the Faculty of Law and Justice at UNSW.
Peta has worked as a researcher on a range of criminology, legal services and community development projects in NSW and across Australia.
Peta was a Field Researcher and Project Manager on the ARC Linkage Project Indigenous Australians with Mental Health Disorders and Cognitive Disability in the Criminal Justice System (IAMHDCD).
Peta’s former area of legal practice and current research specialisation is the legal needs of children and young people, particularly those experiencing social and economic disadvantage. Peta is passionate about Indigenous children and young people’s participation in community development work. Peta is the current Chairperson of the Community Restorative Centre NSW, the lead provider of specialist throughcare, post-release, and reintegration programs for people transitioning from prison into the community in NSW, and former company members and Director of the Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT.
Ray Lovett
Professor Ray Lovett is an Aboriginal (Wongaibon/ Ngiyampaa) man from western NSW. Ray is a social epidemiologist with extensive experience in health research, public health policy development and evaluation, and is the Mayi Kuwayu Study Director in the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research at the Australian National University.
Prior to his research career, Ray was a health policy advisor in the Aboriginal health workforce. He has a clinical background as a registered nurse and Aboriginal health worker. Ray is recognised nationally for his work in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health care research. His work includes integrating culture and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research ethics.
Sam Provost
Sam Provost is a PhD candidate in the Fenner School of Environment and Society at the Australian National University. Sam is Yuin scholar with Irish and Scottish settler heritage. He has an academic background in Environmental Science, GIS and cartography. Sam is interested in the ways that spatial technologies can improve the management of the landscapes we belong to by holding Indigenous and settler understandings of space and place in conversation with one another.
Skye Trudgett
Skye is a Mother and Gamilaroi woman who has contributed to numerous evaluations and research projects. Skye has experience in developmental evaluation with First Nations communities, organisations and collectives. She also has experience in facilitating the co-creation of programs and data capture systems for First Nations young people. Skye has a passion for Indigenous Data Sovereignty & Governance and grounds these principles within her work. Having completed her PhD in data sovereignty principles within research and evaluation practice, Skye has a wealth of experience in working alongside Community to consider protection of knowledge that informs locally led decision making.
Prior to working in evaluation, Skye coordinated clinical trials in oncology, and decided to make the move from clinical research into evaluation after working within a grassroots collective impact initiative for a number of years. Skye brings a unique approach to evaluation which considers self-determination, sustainable governance and truth-telling as the foundations for informing change, defining progress and influencing decision makers. Skye is the CEO at Kowa, a member of Maiam nayri Wingara, a board member of RUOK First Nations, First Nations Futures and Ngimilko Kunta.
Rose Barrowcliffe
Dr. Rose Barrowcliffe is a Butchulla postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Critical Indigenous Studies at Macquarie University, a member of the Global Centre for Indigenous Futures and an ENRICH Fellow. Rose was the inaugural First Nations Archives Advisor to the Queensland State Archives. Rose's work and research examines the representation of Indigenous peoples and the enactment of Indigenous rights in collecting institutions.
KIRSTEN THORPE
A/Prof Kirsten Thorpe (Worimi, Port Stephens) leads the Indigenous Archives and Data Stewardship Hub at the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research, University of Technology Sydney. Her current research examines the intersection of Indigenous Data Sovereignty in an archival context.
Prior to academia, Kirsten gained extensive experience in major collecting institutions across libraries and archives, supporting Indigenous engagement and priorities. Kirsten holds a PhD (Library and Archival Studies), Master of Information Management and Systems (Professional), Post-Graduate Diploma in Science (Archives and Records), Bachelor of Social Science (Sociology) and Diploma in Aboriginal Studies.
She is an invited member of the International Council on Archives Expert Group on Indigenous Matters, a co-founder of the Indigenous Archives Collective, and an elected member of the International Federation of Libraries (IFLA) Indigenous Matters Section (2023-2027). In 2023, Kirsten was appointed to the National Archives of Australia Advisory Council for a three-year term.
