NAIDOC Week 2022 – Get Up, Stand Up, Show Up!

NAIDOC Week celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is celebrated by all Australians and is a great opportunity to learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. NAIDOC Week 2022 will be held from Sunday 3 July to Sunday 10 July. This year’s theme – Get up! Stand up! Show up! – encourages all of us to champion institutional, structural, collaborative, and cooperative change while celebrating those who have already driven and led change in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities over generations.

In this edition of Data Science in the News, we highlight the research and leadership activities of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander colleagues, with a particular focus on the role of data and data science in their various professions, organisations and communities.

Our panellists:

• Angela Barney-Leitch – QUT Pro Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous Strategy)
• Professor Peter Anderson – Executive Director, Carumba Institute QUT
• Dr Veronica Matthews – Senior Research Fellow, University Centre for Rural Health, The University of Sydney
• Becki Cook – Centre Manager, QUT Centre for Data Science

The discussion will be moderated by QUT Professor David Lovell, leader of the QUT Centre for Data Science’s Data-Focused Decision-Making Program.

More about the speakers

Ms Angela Barney – Leitch

Ms Angela Barney – Leitch is the QUT Pro Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous Strategy). A position she commenced in February 2019. Ms Barney-Leitch is a Woppaburra Gaumi Enkil and Land Trustee whose country is the Keppel Islands off the coast of central Queensland, Australia. As Pro Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous Strategy) she is responsible for providing leadership in developing the strategic direction of the university regarding Indigenous matters, including institutional policy, strategy and advice in relation to all aspects of Indigenous higher education at QUT. The position plays a critical role in engaging within the university, external stakeholders and Indigenous communities, to establish effective and productive relationships. Ms Barney-Leitch ensures alignment of all related Indigenous initiatives and activities with the university’s overall strategic direction.

Professor Peter Anderson

Professor Peter J. Anderson is from the Walpiri and Murinpatha First Nations in the Northern Territory. His research theorizes the understandings of the organisational value of academic freedom in Australian universities and also more broadly in the polar south. He researches in the areas of

• organisational leadership
• Indigenous peoples’ education
• teacher and academic professional development

Previously the Director of the Indigenous Research & Engagement Unit (IREU) at QUT, Professor Anderson now leads the Carumba Institute as the Executive Director as of 2020. He is also the Director of the National Indigenous Research and Knowledges Network (NIRAKN). Under his leadership, the Carumba Institute aims to transform both Indigenous research and Indigenous education. Central to his role are training and employment-enhancing initiatives and fostering engagement and partnerships that matter to Indigenous people and communities through the Institute. In 2020, in partnership with QALT, he successfully achieved a global first accreditation for the Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) (Indigenous), which is a flagship education program for the Carumba Institute. This innovative professional development program is the first of its kind reflecting QUT’s leadership of the higher education sector’s ambitions to lift Indigenous participation, celebrate Indigenous excellence and recognise Indigenous contribution.

Becki Cook

Becki Cook is a Nunukul Aboriginal woman with over 13 years experience in the education sector. She is currently employed as the Centre Manager for the QUT Centre for Data Science. Her interest in science and passion for improving educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples has shaped her career path and research journey.

A former science & mathematics teacher, and student success coordinator, Becki has completed a Bachelor of Science in 2007 (Griffith University), Graduate Diploma in Education Secondary in 2012 (QUT) and Master of Education and Professional Studies Research in 2021 (Griffith University). Her thesis titled First Peoples Perspectives on Engagement at University: What keeps students coming back to Indigenous Education Units? explores from the student perspective, how university Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student Support Units enhance the student experience and improve outcomes beyond the traditional provision of support.