'building communities' capacity through empowerment, healing and leadership.'
NATIONAL EMPOWERMENT PROJECT
Building communities' capacity through empowerment and strengthening
cultural, social and emotional wellbeing.
THE NEP TEAM
PROFESSOR PAT DUDGEON: PROJECT DIRECTOR
Professor Dudgeon is from the Bardi people of the Kimberley. She is a research fellow and psychologist who is known for her leadership in Indigenous higher education. Currently she is a Research Fellow at the School of Indigenous Studies, University of Western Australia. Her roles include Chief Investigator in an ARC (Indigenous Discovery) grant, Cultural Continuity and Change: Indigenous Solutions to Mental Health Issues. She is also a Chief Investigator in the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence Grant. Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing: From Marginalised to Empowered: Transformative Methods for Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing for the Telethon Institute of Child Health Research, Perth Western Australia.
Pat Dudgeon was the inaugural Chair and is now a steering committee member of Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association (AIPA); a member of the National Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Advisory Group; a member of the National Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Health Equality Council; and a Commissioner on the new National Mental Health Commission. She co-chairs the Reconciliation Action Plan Working Party in the Australian Psychological Society (APS) with the President of the APS.
ADELE COX: NATIONAL SENIOR CONSULTANT
Adele Cox is a Bunuba and Gija woman from the Kimberley region of Western Australia. She has spent the majority of her early working life in the Kimberley region in media and in suicide prevention, and since 2001 has lived and worked in Perth. She has worked at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research on numerous projects including Indigenous Suicide Prevention and Maternal and Child Health Research including the WA Aboriginal Child Health Survey. She also has worked at the Centre for Aboriginal Medical and Dental Health at the University of Western Australia. She currently works full time as a private consultant, mostly in the areas of Indigenous Health and Mental Health and Indigenous Medical Education.
Adele is an active member of several committees at both State and National levels. She is currently a member of the WA Ministerial Council for Suicide Prevention, the Australian Suicide Prevention Advisory Council, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Advisory Group, and provides strategic and policy support for the Department of Health and Ageing’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health Advisory Group.
CAROLYN MASCALL: SENIOR PROJECT OFFICER
Carolyn has studied and worked in health promotion, education and community liaison throughout her extensive working career in metropolitan Perth. She has worked with General Practitioners, raising awareness of cultural appropriateness and supporting community access to primary health care, has supported international aid sponsored students in a University setting and worked with young students participating in vocational education training in schools.
TJALAMINU MIA: PROJECT CONSULTANT
Tjalaminu is a Menang/Goren and Nyungar woman. She is the Managing Director of the Sister Kates Home Kids Healing Centre and Healing Programs and has been working closely with communities in the Wheatbelt and South West in recent times. Tjalaminu was awarded the Community Person of the Year WA NAIDOC Award 2012 and this was in recognition of her tireless work the past 35 years for the human rights of her people. She has held various positions in community controlled organisations, mainstream advocacy organisations and government. She is an accomplished writer and co-author of several oral histories publications, including ‘Speaking from the Heart’ and ‘Heartsick for Country’.
JEAN BOLADERAS: NEP SUPPORT AND ELDER
Jean was from the Ballardong Nyungar people of the York/Northam area of south Western Australia. She had an MA in Indigenous Research and Development and was a Lecturer at the Centre for Aboriginal Studies, Curtin University. Jean was a long-term member of various local management committees, including Marr Mooditj Training, and Langford Aboriginal Association. She had a family of six, 14 grannies, and 2 great-grannies. She supported Stage 1 of NEP and was there for our support and guidance. (Deceased)
NEP would like to thank and acknowledge the work and
contribution of Sabrina Swift and Glenis Grogan.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander [viewers, listeners, readers] are advised that the following program contains images and voices of people who have died.