Four new members of the Council of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies have been formally appointed.
The four new appointees bring cultural, financial, legal and research experience and expertise to the council, which recently announced the appointment of a new permanent chief executive in Leonard Hill.
The new AIATSIS council members are Rodney Dillon, Jayde Geia, Professor Lynette Riley, and Mark Yettica-Paulson.
Palawa Elder Mr Dillon is an Indigenous Rights advisor for Amnesty International, regularly speaking out on human rights abuses perpetrated against First Nations people. He is also a member of a number of not-for-profit boards and was a 2024 Tasmanian Senior Australian of the Year nominee.
Ms Geia is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lawyer whose family are Bwgcolman, Gunggandji and Mualgal. She is currently the Project Manager of the Aurora Education Foundation.
Professor Lynette Riley AO is a Wiradjuri and Gamilaroi woman and chair of Aboriginal Education and Indigenous Studies at the University of Sydney, where she recently became the first Indigenous academic to hold the position of professor in the University's School of Education and Social Work. She is also co-chair of the National NAIDOC Committee and last year was a recipient of the Officer of the Order of Australia for her distinguished service to education.
Mr Yettica-Paulson is a Birrah, Gamilaroi and Bundjalung man who specialises in creative and cultural leadership development through his company Native Unlimited as well as through his work for Collaboration for Impact.
The federal government said the four appointees would all contribute to AIATSIS' work promoting knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, traditions, languages, and stories.
They will serve terms of up to four years at Australia's only Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led national cultural institution.
Alongside the new councillors, a new chairperson and deputy chairperson have also been appointed.
Professor Clint Bracknell has been appointed chairperson. A Noongar song-maker, composer, and Professor of Music at the University of Western Australia, he was recently appointed as a member of the First Nations Board for the Arts.
New deputy chairperson Michelle Deshong is a Kuku Yalanji woman who was appointed by the Queensland Minister for Treaty to the First Nations Treaty Institute Council in April this year. Previously, she was the chief executive of the Australian Indigenous Governance Institute.
Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, congratulated the new appointees and said AISTSIS is an "incredibly valued resource that celebrates and educates Australians about First Nations culture and heritage".
"This accomplished and committed group of First Nations Australians will help lead AIATSIS to tell the stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people," Senator McCarthy said.
