Professor 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, he 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.

Distinguished Professor emerita 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).

Professor Walter is widely published in her fields of research. She is the editor and co-author of the best-selling Social Research Methods  and co-author of Inequality in Australia: Discourses, Realities and Directions and Indigenous Statistics: a quantitative methodology.

Professor Gawaian Bodkin-Andrews

Associate Professor, Centre for the Advancement of Indigenous Knowledges; Core Member, SIC - Strengthening Indigenous Communities

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). He has managed and led numerous research grants investigating a diversity of topics including, mental health, mentoring, identity, Traditional Knowledges, education, racism, and bullying. 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.

Associate Professor vanessa lee

Snr Lecturer Behavioural and Social Sciences │
Faculty of Health Sciences
Director - Suicide Prevention Australia
Chair - Public Health Indigenous Leaders in Education Network
Honorary Associate - National Centre for Cultural Competence

Vanessa Lee (Yupungathi and Meriam people, Cape York and the Torres Strait), is a social epidemiologist and senior academic within the discipline of Behavioural and Social Sciences in the Faculty of Health Sciences at University of Sydney. Vanessa’s overarching focus addresses the social issues of the burden of disease to break the cycle of inequality that potentially lead to suicide in First Nations communities, and to strengthen the health and wellness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural identity, particularly for women. She is a founding member of the Indigenous Data Sovereignty group in Australia - Maiam Nayri Wingara.