The Chair of the AIATSIS Council, Professor Clint Bracknell, today welcomed the filling of four Council seats following the ballot by the AIATSIS membership which closed on 5 March 2025.
Recognising the governing role that the AIATSIS Council undertakes for the Institute, Professor Bracknell noted that the new Council members have been elected for four-year terms, while five other Council Members are Ministerially appointed.
‘AIATSIS sees a transformation with new voices and experience being brought to the Council following Ministerial appointments last year,’ Professor Bracknell said.
We welcome:
- returning Council member Mr Ash Walker, a Dharawal/ Dhurga man belonging to the La Perouse Aboriginal community in Coastal Sydney who brings a legal and business background to Council;
- Emeritus Professor Aileen Moreton-Robinson, a Goenpul woman from Quandamooka (Moreton Bay) who brings a wealth of experience in the higher education sector;
- Professor Brenda L. Croft, a woman from the Gurindji/Malngin/Mudburra Peoples of the Victoria River region of the Northern Territory of Australia who has played a leading role in national and international First Nations and broader contemporary arts/cultural sectors ; and
- Emeritus Professor Dr Len Collard, a Whadjuk Nyungar Elder with a background in literature and communications, with research interests in Aboriginal Studies.
Each of these new Council members will begin their terms on 17 May 2025.
AIATSIS Acting Chief Executive Officer, Jude Barlow, also welcomed the new Council Members and the contributions they will bring to guiding the strategic direction of the Institute and ensuring our functions are met. We look forward to working with Council to advance AIATSIS’ vision to create a world in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights, knowledge, cultures and stories are recognised, respected, celebrated and valued.
Ms Barlow also acknowledged the contribution of outgoing Council Chairperson Professor Clint Bracknell, Deputy Chairperson Michelle Deshong, and Council Members Associate Professor Myfany Turpin and Professor (Dr) Fred Cahir whose tenures will conclude on 16 May 2025.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to personally thank the outgoing Council Members for their leadership, commitment and invaluable contribution to the success of the Institute during their respective terms on Council,” she said.
Both Professor Bracknell and Ms Barlow also thanked AIATSIS Members who participated in the AIATSIS Council election.
“AIATSIS is governed by a Council of nine members. Four are elected by AIATSIS members and five are appointed by the Minister for Indigenous Australians. When the new Council members begin their term on 17 May this year, all members of Council will be Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples for the first time in more than 20 years,” Ms Barlow said.
Background on the new Council members:
Emeritus Professor Aileen Moreton-Robinson
Professor Moreton-Robinson is a Goenpul woman from Quandamooka (Moreton Bay) and a member of the Minjerribah and Mulgumpin Elders. For two and a half decades Professor Moreton-Robinson’s advocacy work involved addressing the inequity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in higher education and embedding Indigenous knowledges and research methodologies. In 2023, Professor Moreton-Robinson’s leadership was instrumental in securing the first ARC Research Centre of Excellence in Indigenous Futures.
Prior to her role as Emeritus Professor of Indigenous Research, University of Queensland and Elder scholar within the Centre, Professor Moreton-Robinson was the Director of the Australian Research Council’s National Indigenous Research and Knowledges Network (NIRAKN) and a former President of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Higher Education Consortium (NATSIHEC). She served as a board member of several Aboriginal community organisations. As a global leader in the field of Indigenous Studies, with over 11,000 citations, she was elected as a Fellow of three Australian learned Academies (FQAAS, FASSA, FAHA). She was the first Indigenous person outside of the USA to be made an honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Science. Professor Moreton-Robinson served on several national and international editorial boards including the prestigious American Studies journal American Quarterly.
Professor Brenda L. Croft
Professor Brenda L. Croft is a First Nations woman from the Gurindji/Malngin/Mudburra Peoples from the Victoria River region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with Anglo-Australian/Chinese/German/Irish/Scottish heritage. Brenda is Nangari skin, with totems being Ngarlu (‘sugarbag’ or native honey) and Tikirrija (red-backed kingfisher).
For four decades she has undertaken a leading role in national and international First Nations and broader contemporary arts/cultural sectors as a multi-disciplinary creative practitioner (academic, administrator, artist, curator, educator, researcher, scholar).
Brenda’s creative-led research encompasses Critical Indigenous Performative Collaborative Autoethnography and Storywork methodologies and theoretical frameworks. For over three decades she has worked closely with her patrilineal family and community, and also with local and regional First communities in the ACT/NSW. As an academic, artist and curator Brenda’s work with Australian and international First Nations/Indigenous communities spans more than four decades.
In 2024 Brenda was the Gough Whitlam & Malcolm Fraser Visiting Chair of Australian Studies, Harvard University, living and working on the Ancestral Homelands of the Massachusett. Brenda is Professor of Indigenous Art History & Curatorship at the Australian National University and her ANU affiliation commenced in 1982.
Emeritus Professor Dr Len Collard
Emeritus Professor Dr Len Collard is a Whadjuk Nyungar Elder and respected Traditional Owner of the Perth Metropolitan area and surrounding lands, rivers, swamps, ocean and culture. Dr Collard has a background in literature and communications, with research interests in Aboriginal Studies, including Nyungar interpretive histories and Nyungar theoretical and applied practical research models. Dr Collard has conducted research funded by the Australian Research Council, the National Trust of Western Australia, and many other research institutions and organisations. Len's research has allowed the broadening of the understanding of the many unique characteristics of Australia's Aboriginal people and has contributed enormously to elevating the appreciation of culture and heritage of the Southwest region of Australia. Dr Collard’s groundbreaking theoretical work has put Nyungar cultural research on the local, national and international stages.
Ash Walker
Ash Walker is a Dharawal/ Dhurga man belonging to the La Perouse Aboriginal community in Coastal Sydney. He is currently the CEO of the Gujaga Foundation, the peak body for Dharawal language and culture revitalisation in Coastal Sydney and a member of the Applicant on the South Coast Native Title Claim.
In addition to his work in the language revitalisation place, Ash also played a significant role in the return of the Gweagal Spears from the University of Cambridge. These artefacts were taken from Coastal Sydney by the Cook expedition shortly after first contact.
Previously, Ash has worked as a management consultant at Boston Consulting Group, a corporate lawyer at Gilbert + Tobin and as Acting CEO of the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council. Ash holds a Master in Business Administration (Distinction) from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor of Laws/ Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales. He is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Ash was previously a ministerial appointment to the AIATSIS Council for a period of 4 years and 7 months and would like to use his unique skillset to further contribute as an elected Council member.