Keynote - April Lawrie

Day 1 Plenary - Community

April Lawrie is a proud Mirning and Kokatha woman from the Far West Coast of South Australia. While the Nullarbor Plains and Eucla are her ancestral lands, her family call Ceduna and Koonibba home. She also established Bullinda Homeland for her Lawrie family out on far west coast.

She has worked extensively with her family and community in Ceduna to secure native title recognition and build strong foundations to deliver social, cultural and economic outcomes and create intergenerational change. This has included various directorships with the Far West Coast Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC, Far West Coast Investment Pty Ltd, and Far West Mining and Civil Pty Ltd.

April is the chairperson of the South Australian Native Title Services (SANTS) and has served on its board for close to 10 years. More formally, April is the inaugural Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People in South Australia.

Over the past 30 years, April has held various executive positions in state government working on policy and strategy to better Aboriginal outcomes.