Appendix A:  Governance Committees

Jodie Sizer is a Djap Wurrung/Gunditjmara woman and part of the Framlingham Community of south-west Victoria.

Jodie is one of the co-founders and co-CEOs of PwC’s Indigenous Consulting—a majority Aboriginal owned, purpose-led organising professional services firm leading innovation, impact and change with and for Aboriginal communities across Australia. Jodie is also Director on the boards of Wathaurong Glass and Arts, the Ebony Institute and the Collingwood Football Club.

Jodie commenced her career in the community controlled sector and then graduated to work as an auditor and certified practising accountant (CPA). She possesses a strong background in corporate governance and is a graduate of the University of Melbourne Asia–Australia New Leaders Program.

Jodie has also worked in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and government. She was an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) Regional Councillor and a finalist in the Telstra Business Women’s Awards. She was listed in the Who’s Who of Australian Women publication, was inducted to the Victorian Honour Roll of Women, received the Prime Minister’s Centenary Medal and was listed as one of the Australian Financial Review 100 Women of Influence.

Ashley Walker is a Dharawal/ Dhurga man belonging to the La Perouse Aboriginal community in coastal Sydney and works in the Investment Team of Yamanah Investments. Previously, Ashley worked as a management consultant at Boston Consulting Group, a corporate lawyer at Gilbert + Tobin and Acting CEO of the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council.

Ashley holds a Master of Business Administration (Distinction) from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor of Laws / Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales.

Dr Clint Bracknell is a proud Wirlomin Noongar musician and researcher from the south coast of Western Australia.

He is currently Associate Professor at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and Kurongkurl Katitjin Centre for Indigenous Australian Education and Research, Edith Cowan University.

Henrietta Marrie AM is an Elder of the Gimuy Walubara Yidinj people, traditional owners of the land on which Cairns now stands. Along with wide experience in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural and natural resource management and impact assessment, intellectual property law, heritage legislation and philanthropy, she holds a Master of Environmental and

Local Government Law and a Diploma and Graduate Diploma of Arts (Indigenous Studies) and has had over 50 papers published in academic books and journals. She is currently a Member of the Queensland Human Rights Commission’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Group and the Commonwealth’s National Cultural Heritage Committee.

Previously, Henrietta served six years in the United Nations Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal (1997–2003) and nine years as Program Manager Northern Australia with The Christensen Fund—a California-based private philanthropic fund (2003–2012). She was a Visiting Fellow with United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability, based in Tokyo (2012–2016). She is also Patron First Nations of the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair.

In 2018 Henrietta was made a Member of the Order of Australia and recognised as a ‘Queensland Great’. In the same year, her life and accomplishments were dramatised in the play Bukal, produced by the JUTE Theatre Company (Cairns) in association with Central Queensland University.

Judith Ryan AM holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Fine Arts and English Literature from the University of Melbourne (1970) and a Certificate in Education from the University of Oxford (1972). She began her art museum career in 1977 at the National Gallery of Victoria, where she is currently the Senior Curator of Indigenous Art. Judith’s special interest is Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australian art of the 20th and 21st centuries and its diversity, dynamism and transformation in the face of social change.

Judith has curated about 50 exhibitions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and has published widely in the field. Judith is currently working on TIWI—a major exhibition and publication scheduled for release between 18 September 2020 and 31 January 2021. In 2017 Judith was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in the General Division ‘For significant service to the visual arts, particularly to the museums and galleries sector, as a curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander exhibitions and as an author’.

Murray Saylor is a Samsep man from Erub (Darnley Island) in the Torres Strait. Murray’s passion and drive are focused on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural, ecological and economic sustainability. Murray has over 20 years of diverse experience in the fields of government, defence, community development, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs and resource sectors.

Murray is the founder / Managing Director of Tagai Management Consultants—a company that works respectfully with clients in the Australia and Asia-Pacific region to deliver market-leading procurement/supply chain management, business advisory, innovative futures and stakeholder engagement services. In 2019 Tagai Management Consultants was presented with the Innovation in Business award by the Ipswich Business Chamber, and in 2018 it was selected as one of 100 faces of small business in Queensland. 

Bart Pigram, a proud Wajarri/Yawaru man from Broome, Western Australia, is the owner/operator of Narlijia Experiences - one of the few Aboriginal experiences on offer in Broome.

Bart is currently a Director of Goolarri Media Enterprises and formerly a Yawaru Prescribed Body Corporate (PBC) Director. Bart has been involved in several successful cultural heritage projects in Broome over the past six years including the award-winning Lustre—Pearling and Australia travelling exhibition with the WA Museum.

Sue Kee is a longstanding AIATSIS member. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Anthropology and a Bachelor of Law (Honours).

Sue has been a Council member at the Law Institute of Victoria and is currently a Senior Lawyer at 32 Degrees South Law. She brings a unique combination of professional skills in anthropology/archaeology and commercial law.

Steve Kinnane has been an active researcher and writer for more than 25 years as well as lecturing and working on community cultural heritage and development projects. Steve is a Marda Marda man from Miriwoong country in the East Kimberley. His interests are diverse, encompassing Aboriginal history, creative documentary (both visual and literary), and tensions surrounding the ideals of sustainability and the relationships between individuality, community, country, economy and human development. 

Steve lectured at Murdoch University in Australian Indigenous Studies and Sustainability; completed a Visiting Research Fellowship at AIATSIS, Canberra; and was Senior Researcher for the Nulungu Research Institute of the University of Notre Dame Australia, Broome. Steve is currently a PhD candidate with the ANU Research School of Social Sciences and a member of the Curatorial Team of the New Museum Project (WA). He also serves on the boards of Magabala Books and the Australian Dictionary of Biography (ANU) and is Chair of the AIATSIS Foundation Board.

Dr Myfany Turpin is a linguist and ethnomusicologist at the University of Sydney. She holds an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship to investigate the relationship between words and music in Aboriginal songs in central Australia. She has been conducting research with Aboriginal communities since 1994, focused on Aboriginal song-poetry and Arandic languages.

Her research on the Kaytetye language resulted in an encyclopaedic dictionary, picture dictionary and collection of stories co-authored with Kaytetye speaker Alison Ross. She has written scholarly articles in the areas of semantics, music, phonology and ethnobiology and produced audiovisual publications of Aboriginal songs.

Myfany supports school language and culture programs in central Australia. She works with local organisations to produce resources and provide opportunities for Aboriginal people to assist them in their struggle for cultural and linguistic survival.
She is a member of the Musicological Society of Australia, the Australian Linguistics Society and the organising committee for the Conference of the Australian Linguistics Society 2017 (50th Anniversary).

Rachel Perkins has served on a number of federal agencies, including Screen Australia, the Australian Film Commission and the Australian Film Television and Radio School. She was a founding board member of NITV, which she was instrumental in establishing, and has served on the boards of various Aboriginal organisations and industry associations, including Bangarra Dance Theatre. She currently serves on the board of the Australian Heritage Commission, Jawun, Uphold and Recognise and the Charles Perkins Scholarship Trust.

Her company Blackfella Films, established in 1993, is a leader in the creation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content, including the series First Contact, Redfern Now, First Australians, Ready for This and its latest production, DNA Nation. Her work as director includes documentaries such as Freedom Ride and the more recent Black Panther Women, as well as the movies Bran Nue Dae, One Night the Moon, Mabo and Jasper Jones and the TV series Mystery Road. She has served as an executive producer at both SBS and ABC, presiding over the management of their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Program Units.

She also works in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural sector, directing festivals such as the Yeperenye Festival for the Centenary of Federation. In more recent times she has focused on the development of Arrernte culture. The first project was an Arrernte Women’s Camp, which recorded and revived the repertoire of Arrernte women’s traditional musical heritage.

Donisha Duff is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander woman from Thursday Island in the Torres Strait. She has familial links with Moa and Badu Islands (Torres Strait) and is a Yadhaigana/Wuthathi Aboriginal traditional owner (Cape York).

Donisha holds a Master of Business Administration (ANU) and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from Griffith University. She has 20 years of experience in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health policy, planning and management within the public sector, not-for profit sector and Community Controlled Health.

Donisha is the General Manager, Preventative Health/Deadly Choices, at the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health.

Geoffrey Winters is a descendant of the Kamilaroi nation from Walgett in north-west New South Wales. He is currently an associate in Sydney at international law firm Clyde & Co LLP. He was judicial associate to the Honourable Justice Basten of the New South Wales Court of Appeal and to the Honourable Justice Wright of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. 

Mr Winters graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Economy and Laws from the University of Sydney, where he was President of the Australian Law Students’ Association.

The AIATSIS Foundation works to raise funds to secure the future of the world’s largest and most significant collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australian culture, history and heritage. During 2019–2020, AIATSIS Foundation Board members were:

• Mr Steven Kinnane (Chair) until May 2020
• Dr Clint Bracknell (AIATSIS Council Board member) (Chair from May 2020)
• Ms Henrietta Marrie (Deputy Chair) from May 2020
• Dr Myfany Turpin (AIATSIS Council Board member)
• Professor Tony Dreise (Foundation Board member)
• Mr Glenn Johnson (Foundation Board member)
• Mr Craig Ritchie (CEO)
• Mr Michael Ramalli (Deputy CEO).

The AIATSIS Membership Standing Committee provides advice to the AIATSIS Council on membership applications and engagement. At 30 June 2020, AIATSIS had 652 total members, including 18 new members during the year. During 2019–2020 Membership Standing Committee members were:

• Mr Bart Pigram (Chair) from 29 March 2020
• Ms Judith Ryan (AIATSIS Council member)
• Dr Myfany Turpin (AIATSIS Council member)
• Ms Donisha Duff (Chair) until 12 January 2020
• Mr Steve Kinnane (AIATSIS Council member) until 28 March 2020
• Ms Rachel Perkins (AIATSIS Council member) until 20 January 2020
• Mr Michael Ramalli  (Deputy CEO) from 17 September 2019.

The AIATSIS Research Ethics Committee is a registered Human Research Ethics Committee that provides independent review of the ethical aspects of research projects, against the National Statement on Human Research Ethics and the AIATSIS Guidelines for Ethical Research in Australian Indigenous Studies. The committee receives internal and external applications.

Membership of the committee is in line with categories established by the National Health and Medical Research Council. In addition,  the committee must include a majority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members and, as far as practicable, should reflect a gender and age balance. Members normally serve for three-year terms. Members are appointed by the AIATSIS CEO. During 2019–2020 members were:

• Mr Kevin Williams (Chair) from November 2019
• A/Professor Andrew Crowden (Deputy Chair) from November 2019
• Mr Robert Kelly from November 2019
• Ms Helen McHugh from November 2019
• Ms Mandy Downing from November 2019
• Dr Rowan Savage from November 2019
• Mr Trent Shepherd from November 2019
• Ms Tara Harriden from November 2019
• Ms Kay Blades from November 2019
• Dr Tracey Powis from November 2019
• Dr Areti Metuamate from November 2019
• Ms Teela Reid from November 2019
• Ms Melanie Gentgall from May 2014
• Ms Caroline Hughes from November 2019
• Dr Margaret Raven  until July 2020
• Cheyne Halloran from November 2019
• Ms Kerry Sculthorpe (Chair) until November 2019
• Mr Rob Clifton-Steele until November 2019
• Dr Lorraine Muller until November 2019
• Ms Caroline Marsh until November 2019.

The Collections Advisory Committee (CAC) was established to provide advice to the AIATSIS CEO and the Executive Director, Collections on matters in relation to collection development, management and access. This includes providing advice on proposals for major donations or deposits, policy development, risks to the collections, major projects and strategic issues.

The CAC is currently in recess while the Collections Transformation Strategy is undertaken. This will inform new terms of reference, a work program and membership composition to better reflect contemporary issues impacting the AIATSIS collection.

The Native Title Research Advisory Committee  (NTRAC) provides advice to the CEO on AIATSIS native title activities. In 2019–2020 the NTRAC met twice, on 6 May 2020 and 11 December 2019.
During 2019–2020 members were:

• Mr Craig Ritchie (Chair, CEO)
• Dr Lisa Strelein (Executive Director, Research and Education)
• Mr Wayne Beswick (National Indigenous Australians Agency representative)
• Ms Natalie Rotumah (NTSCORP)
• Dr Valerie Cooms (Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation)
• Mr Jason Behrendt (Chalk & Behrendt)
• Ms Kaylene Malthouse (North Queensland Land Council)
• Ms Debra Pigram (Yawuru Prescribed Body Corporate)
• Mr Ned David (Gur A Baradharaw Kod Torres Strait Sea and Land Council).

The Publishing Advisory Committee (PAC) is an independent advisory group that reports to the AIATSIS CEO, who is also the PAC Chairperson. The PAC evaluates all manuscripts submitted and assessed and makes publishing recommendations to the PAC Chairperson.

In 2019–2020 the PAC met twice, on 22 October 2019 and 18 June 2020.

The PAC comprises:

• Mr Michael Ramalli, PAC Chairperson (Deputy CEO, AIATSIS)
• Dr Lisa Strelein (Executive Director, Research and Education, AIATSIS)
• Dr Sandy O’Sullivan (University of the Sunshine Coast)
• Associate Professor Tess Lea (University of Sydney)
• Dr Shino Konishi (University of Western Australia)
• Ms Marie Ferris (Director, Communications, Marketing, Public Program and Publishing AIATSIS).

The Research Advisory Committee provides advice to the CEO on strategic research matters and research priorities. During 2019–2020 members were:

• Mr Craig Ritchie, Chair from September 2018 (CEO, AIATSIS)
• Dr Lisa Strelein from September 2018 (Executive Director, Research and Education, AIATSIS)
• Blair Exell from April 2020 (Deputy CEO, National Indigenous Australians Agency)
• Professor Bronwyn Fredericks from September 2018 (Pro-Vice Chancellor—Indigenous Engagement, The University of Queensland)
• Professor Maggie Walter from September 2018 (Pro-Vice Chancellor—Aboriginal Research and Leadership, University of Tasmania)
• Professor Colleen Hayward from September 2018 (Honorary Professor, School of Education, Edith Cowan University)
• Professor Peter Anderson from September 2018 (Executive Director, Curumba Institute, Queensland University of Technology)
• Professor Jacinta Elston from February 2020 (Pro-Vice Chancellor—Indigenous, Monash University)
• Professor Braden Hill from February 2020 (Pro-Vice Chancellor—Equity and Indigenous, Edith Cowan University).

The Indigenous Research Exchange was established to build the evidence base to support policy and practice that improves outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Its advisory board comprises:

• Mr Craig Ritchie, Chair from September 2018 (CEO, AIATSIS)
• Dr Lisa Strelein from September 2018 (Executive Director, Research and Education, AIATSIS)
• Professor Bronwyn Fredericks from September 2018 (Pro-Vice Chancellor—Indigenous Engagement, The University of Queensland)
• Professor Maggie Walter from September 2018 (Pro-Vice Chancellor—Aboriginal Research and Leadership, University of Tasmania)
• Professor Colleen Hayward from September 2018 (Honorary Professor, School of Education, Edith Cowan University)
• Professor Peter Anderson from September 2018 (Executive Director, Curumba Institute, Queensland University of Technology)
• Mr Kenny Bedford from May 2019 (Director, My Pathway)
• Ms Michelle Deshong from May 2019 (CEO, Australian Indigenous Governance Institute)
• Professor Jacinta Elston from February 2020 (Pro-Vice Chancellor—Indigenous, Monash University)
• Professor Braden Hill from February 2020 (Pro-Vice Chancellor—Equity and Indigenous, Edith Cowan University).

The Indigenous Caucus consists of a voluntary membership of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff members. It is an energetic, supportive and cohesive network supporting AIATSIS. The Indigenous Caucus’ key roles are to:

• promote and monitor progress towards cultural competency within AIATSIS
• promote and monitor recruitment at all levels
• provide advice to management on tender and consultancy appointments
• participate in AIATSIS planning workshops
• lead relevant AIATSIS policy and procedure development
• promote AIATSIS in relevant forums
• where required, broker cultural knowledge on issues such as artefacts and their storage
• coordinate a range of public forums.

The AIATSIS Consultative Committee is a joint employee, management and union committee established under the AIATSIS Enterprise Agreement (EA). The purpose of the committee is to discuss matters affecting employment. They work within the framework of the EA and the committee’s charter to progress employment matters for AIATSIS employees, exercise functions under the EA, and address such matters as are agreed to at the request of the CEO.

The committee comprises representatives of employees, management and union. There are up to four employee representatives elected by AIATSIS employees, including one representative from the AIATSIS Indigenous Caucus.

AIATSIS established the National Resting Place team in October 2019. At the same time, the CEO of AIATSIS invited the following key experts to be included on a new Indigenous Advisory Committee (IAC). The IAC was established to provide guidance to AIATSIS on the National Resting Place project.

• Professor Ian Anderson—Deputy CEO, National Indigenous Australians Agency
• Dr June Oscar—Social Justice Commissioner
• Professor Marcia Langton—Academic
• Neil Carter—Repatriation Officer for the Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre
• Dr Lyndon Ormond Parker—Academic
• Phillip Gordon—Co-chair, Advisory Committee for Indigenous Repatriation
• Christine Grant—Co-chair, Advisory Committee for Indigenous Repatriation
• Ned David—Former Co-chair, Advisory Committee for Indigenous Repatriation
• Professor Colleen Hayward—Academic.

An AIATSIS COVID19 Taskforce was established on 23 March 2020 at the request of the CEO to: 

• coordinate a whole of institution response regarding COVID-19
• distribute advice to staff regarding COVID-19 based on advice from relevant federal and state and territory departments
• Provide advice to the Senior Executive Board (SEB).

The taskforce includes staff from program areas across the institute, the Consultative Committee, the Indigenous Caucus and the Community and Public Sector Union, as well as AIATSIS’ Risk Manager, IT Manager and Facilities Manager. Membership representation includes members of AIATSIS’ Business Continuity Management team. The Chair is the Director of the Human Resources unit.

The taskforce provides advice to the SEB and staff, monitors external advice, manages emerging and ongoing risk, and facilitates staff input. It meets twice weekly to discuss staff concerns, review and discuss new information, and provide input and advice for consideration by the SEB. 

The Health and Safety Committee (HSC) is a joint management and worker consultative forum established in accordance with section 75 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011. The role of the HSC is to facilitate co-operation and consultation between the institute and workers in instigating, developing and carrying out measures designed to ensure the health and safety of workers at work. 

In particular, the HSC provides a forum for:

• raising, discussing and resolving work health and safety (WHS) issues that are raised
• by workers, identified through risk and hazard inspections, or derived from incident and accident statistics
• examining and considering WHS audit or performance reports, information or reports provided by Comcare, and any WHS reports that Health and Safety Representatives may wish to submit
• considering how changes to the institute’s workplaces, including changes to the nature of institute work, may impact on the health and safety of workers
• considering WHS training and awareness needs and providing feedback to the institute on the effectiveness of WHS training and awareness initiatives.