Speaker Profiles

Mr Calma is an Aboriginal elder from the Kungarakan tribal group and the Iwaidja tribal group whose traditional lands are south west of Darwin and on the Coburg Peninsula in the Northern Territory. He has been involved in Indigenous affairs at a local, community, state, national and international level and has worked in the public sector for over 30 years.

Until his appointment on 12 July 2004 as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, for an appointment of five years and Race Discrimination Commissioner since July 2008, Mr Calma managed the Community Development and Education Branch at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services (ATSIS) where he worked with remote Indigenous communities to implement community-based and driven empowerment and participation programs. In 2003, he was Senior Adviser of Indigenous Affairs to the Minister of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs and from 1995 to 2002 he was a senior diplomat in India and Vietnam.

Jimmy Little has been entertaining Australians since his very first recording in 1956. In the 1980's Jimmy began mentoring young Aboriginal students in Sydney and was honoured as the recipient of the National Aboriginal Day of Observance Committee's 'Aboriginal of the Year' award in 1989. In 1994, he was elevated to the prestigious Tamworth Country Roll of Renown.

Jimmy's experience of kidney failure and his subsequent treatment crystallised his thoughts about an organisation he had wanted to establish and in August 2006, Jimmy launched The Jimmy Little Foundation to help provide a healthier future for Indigenous Australians, particularly those in regional and remote areas of Australia. The Uncle Jimmy Thumbs up ! program was launched in 2009 to encourage children to choose healthier food options to help stem the advance of the chronic diseases that are decimating Australia's Indigenous population.

At 73 years of age, Jimmy has now received three honorary doctorates and several MO awards. He recently won the APRA Ted Albert lifetime achievement award.

Dr Tony Hobbs is a GP Obstetrician from Cootamundra on the south- west slopes of NSW, where he has been involved in the establishment of an innovative integrated primary care service. He was Chair of the External Reference Group working with the DoHA to develop Australia's first National Primary Health Care Strategy. He is the immediate past Chair of the Australian General Practice Network. He is the Chair of the Riverina Division of General practice and Primary Health. He has recently been appointed to the NHMRC Prevention and Community Health Committee.

Ernie Bridge was born at Halls Creek in the Kimberley region in the far north of Western Australia. Prior to his political life, Ernie was involved in family business and became a successful small businessman in his own right.

In 1980 he stood for election in the WA State Parliament and convincingly won the seat of the Kimberley, which he held until his retirement from politics in February 2001. In 1986 he was appointed Minister for Water Resources, Aboriginal Affairs and the North-West, and in later terms gained the portfolios of Small Business and Agriculture. Mr Bridge has the distinction of being the first Aboriginal Member of the WA Parliament and the first Aboriginal person to be appointed a Cabinet Minister in any Parliament in Australia.

In 1997 he established the Unity of First People of Australia, a non-profit organisation dedicated to assisting Aboriginal people and communities with the establishment of employment-creating enterprises and roles for Indigenous people in the key areas of law and order, education and health. In 1993 he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his service to Parliament and Aboriginal Affairs and in 2003 received the Centenary of Federation Medal for his service to Parliament and Aboriginal Affairs.

In June 2004, he received the Western Australian Citizen of the Year award for his contribution to regional development.

In August 2004 he presented a paper at the 24th International Congress of Pediatrics in Cancun, Mexico.

In 2006 a paper was presented on his behalf at the 19th World Diabetes Congress in Cape Town, South Africa.

In July 2010 he was awarded the NAIDOC Elder of the Year Award in Western Australia.

Since retiring from Parliament in 2001 Mr Bridge has continued to pursue business interests through the Unity of First People of Australia.

Fadwa Al-Yaman currently heads the Social and Indigenous Group at the AIHW. The Indigenous work of the group focuses on COAG closing the data gaps, the CTG Clearinghouse, report on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance framework, the Northern Territory Emergency Response Child Health Check and follow up data collections and data collections and reporting for the Healthy for Life program.

Dr Al-Yaman holds an honours degree in zoology, a PhD in Immunology, and a Master of Population Studies from the Research School of Social Sciences at the ANU. Before joining the AIHW in 2000, Fadwa worked as an immunologist at the ANU and as a Research Fellow at the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research where she spent four years setting up the immunological side of the first major trial of a blood stage malaria vaccine for children.

Dr Al-Yaman was recently awarded the prestigious Public Service Medal in the 2008 Australia Day Honours List. She was recognised for outstanding public service in improving the accuracy and reliability of data on Indigenous Australians contained in information collections for health, housing and community services.

Brian is currently an advocate with the Aged Rights Advocacy Service in Adelaide, South Australia, where his primary role is to ensure that Aboriginal Elders have access to aged care services and are protected from abuse by families and friends.

Brian has held numerous positions within the realms of human rights and equal opportunities for First Nations Peoples of Australia and extended his support to First Nations Aboriginal Peoples of the world. In Australia, Brian has held positions as:

• Chair to the Secretariat National Aboriginal Islander Child Care Incorporation (SNAICCI)
• Commissioner for ATSIC SA
• Director of Aboriginal Child Care Agency SA
• National Chair for the Stolen Generations Alliance
• and has been a long-term member of the Council of Aboriginal Elders SA.

Scott is the Director of Aboriginal Drug and Alcohol Council, (ADAC). He is an Aboriginal man from the Stolen Generation. Scott's background is one of poly drug use and he has spent considerable amounts of time and effort learning to live illicit drugs and alcohol free lifestyle. Scott's youth was spent misusing and abusing alcohol and other drugs, which bought him into both law enforcement and health agencies constantly. The Aboriginal Drug and Alcohol Council (SA) Inc. Interviewed Scott in 1994 when he applied for the position of Director. Scott was appointed Acting Director and in 1995 he became the Director, a position he has had ever since.

Since working at ADAC, Scott has led a drug free lifestyle and has bought his background of abuse into being, where ADAC now has a harm minimisation focus. Scott's commitment and involvement in Indigenous substance misuse sees him in a variety of structures and committees.

John Morgan has been involved in community services for several years on various Boards and has worked in Aboriginal Affairs most of his life.

Last year John graduated from the National Indigenous Leadership Program and continues to be an active member of the Miwatj Community.

John is serving his second term as Chairperson of Miwatj Health Aboriginal Corporation.

Eddie is of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent and has lived most of his life in remote aboriginal communities and townships. He has biological connections to the people of East Arnhem (Miwatj Region) where he is now CEO of Miwatj Health. He has worked in Aboriginal affairs for the past 18 years, in Local Government, Indigenous Housing, Legal Aid, Fisheries Development and Health.

Eddie has undergraduate qualifications in politics and public policy and post-graduate qualifications in public health and management.

Eddie has worked in the private and community sector up until 1995. He then joined the public service in 1995 and worked for 11 years. Eddie joined Miwatj Health as the CEO in October 2006, returning to the community sector, when the organization was in difficulties, having been defined as an organization of serious concern by the funding body OATSIH. Today four years later, Miwatj Health is considered by OATSI, as one of the Northern Territories leading AMS. Miwatj Health has, in this time, consolidated its position and considerably expanded its service delivery, income and regional profile.

Hilda has had a career in nursing spanning over 30 years and has a wealth of experience in the management of high-level aged facilities. Hilda moved into training aged care nurses in 2000, with the specific focus on training in Aboriginal communities. Recently she has designed an Aboriginal specific training program to compliment the Aged Care Certificate course. Hilda is now the manager of Sandy Boyd Aged Care Facility on Palm Island in Far North Queensland. Her presentation stems from her personal experience in helping to build a working health service that focuses on community involvement, meets the individual needs of the clients and enhances staff personal skills and knowledge.