National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Consultancy Group

Felix, a proud Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander with Papua New Guinean descent, is a dedicated child protection advocate with over 18 years of experience in social work practice. Currently serving as a Kinship Case Worker at Kummara and Infinity Community Solutions in Queensland, he has worked extensively across youth services, family support and intensive family support programs.

Recognised by the community as a leader and advocate in both social services and the arts, Felix was named the 2006 South Australian NAIDOC Artist of the Year and directed the Galiwin’ku & Homelands Youth Spirit Festival.

Felix is pursuing a Graduate Certificate in Social Justice and Community Practice at Griffith University. Alongside his studies, he continues his vital work strengthening Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and amplifying community and family voices.

Kathy (Katherine) Rigney is a strong Ngarrindjeri/Boandik woman who lives in the Murraylands region. She currently works for ac.care as the Senior Aboriginal Advisor and is a tireless champion for the safety and cultural support for Aboriginal children in out-of-home care.

Kathy has worked within the child protection sector for nearly 30 years, and has extensive experience and knowledge of Aboriginal child protection and the intergenerational effect stolen generations has had on families. Kathy was the Chair for the Aboriginal Youth and Family Network (AYFN) which developed a regional social and emotional wellbeing framework to support the sector in identifying and support the needs of Aboriginal children’s and families access into mainstream services.

She is also is on the Board for Ngarrindjeri Ruwe Empowered Communities (NREC) and Moorundi Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service. In 2024, Kathy was a finalist for SA Premier’s NAIDOC Award in recognition of her achievements in improving the lives of Aboriginal people in South Australia.

Eric is a well-respected Aboriginal Elder with an extensive employment history within the government sectors of health, housing, welfare and education. He was the inaugural director of Pangula Mannamurna health service in the south-east of South Australia and has been an active advocate for improvement of services for his people.

Eric has extensive knowledge in the delivery of programs and services to Aboriginal Communities in South Australia. He is currently chairperson of the Bamagee Aboriginal Corporation delivering cultural awareness training.

As an East Aranda/Arrernte woman from Alice Springs who has lived in Perth for the past 35 years, Carol is passionate about playing a positive role in enhancing opportunities for Aboriginal children and families.  Providing culturally supportive environments in which to raise confident, resilient children who feel they have something to offer is important to her.

Prior to Carol’s employment with The Kids Research Institute Australia (formerly Telethon Kids Institute) in 2015, she worked for almost 30 years in Aboriginal early childhood education and development services.

Carol’s current role is Co-Head of the Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing Team at The Kids Research Institute Australia in collaboration with the Ngulluk Koolunga Ngulluk Koort (Our Children, Our Heart) Elder/Researchers and the broader Aboriginal community of Perth. She has also had an integral role in the following research projects:

• Moort Danjoo Kadadjiny (Family Together Learning)
• Bush Tucker and Vitamin D Kimberley/Perth
• Moorditj Marp (Strong Skin)
• the Ngulluk Moort Ngulluk Boodja Ngulluk Wirin (Our Family, Our Country, Our Spirit) Out of Home Care.

Dave (David) Edwards is a Worimi man who grew up in Turrbal/Jagera Country and now lives in the Bundjalung lands of northern NSW.

Dave works under the national e-Mental Health in Practice consortium from University of Sydney’s University Centre for Rural Health (UCRH). He is Director of the WellMob website program that provides a digital library of Aboriginal and Torres Strait specific wellbeing resources. With a background in science and Indigenous health promotion, Dave is dedicated to working with Community on looking after Country, culture, and community health and employment.

He brings over 30 years of experience in contributing to the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care’s Mental Health Advisory Group and is also active in other national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and wellbeing governance groups for organisations including Beyond Blue, Menzies School of Health Research (AIMhi-Y) and the Australian Eating Disorders Research Translation Centre. Dave also supports research work in First Nations health projects that meet community needs in partnership with the University of Sydney’s UCRH, Charles Perkins Centre and Poche Centre for Indigenous Health. He is also a volunteer trainer in the Core of Life program delivering interactive workshops to young people about pregnancy and birthing, and co-developed content for the Indigenous fathering text-based information service, #SMS4deadlydads in 2019–2022.

Dana is Aboriginal/Chinese and a descendant of the Ngarrindjeri people in South Australia.

With a passion for working with Aboriginal people and communities, Dana has over 20 years’ experience working across the public and not for profit sectors in the areas of health, families and child protection. She commenced her career as a Youth Community Development Officer in both the Adelaide Hills and the Murraylands. In this role she worked with young people, many of who were at risk, in order to create better environments for young people in their Communities. Dana went on to work in a number of senior roles with the SA public sector in which she had responsibility for program management, service delivery, policy development and strategic planning. She worked with The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI) where she held the role of Principal, Social Services, Systems & Aboriginal Policy and was director of the Family by Family program.

Dana recently completed a two-year mindfulness meditation teacher’s course with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach and is committed to making this accessible to organisations and communities in South Australia and bringing a strong First Nations and Ngarrindjeri lens to mindfulness practice.

Dana enjoys randomly creating art and bushwalking on all SA trails, with particular favourites being the Heysen Trail and the Lavender Federation Trail.

www.danashen.com

Trish Ratajczak is a proud Palawa woman from Lutruwita (Tasmania), descended from Mannalargenna, chief of the Pairrebeene/Trawlwoolway Clan.

With over a decade of clinical midwifery experience in Western Australia, Trish is a highly skilled practitioner and advocate. She has championed Aboriginal health and cultural security as an educator for emerging health professionals across WA universities.

Trish holds a Master’s in Aboriginal Maternal Health (Research), focusing on the perinatal period highlighting the strengths and self-efficacy of Aboriginal women. She has played a pivotal role in groundbreaking research projects, including the successful pilot of Baby Coming You Ready, and is currently the WA site implementation lead for the Replanting the Birthing Trees project. Currently, she is the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation Senior Research Fellow at the Yorga, Maaman and Koolanga Centre within the Ngangk Yira Institute for Change at Murdoch University.