Noted Indigenous leader and 2022 Northern Territory Australian of the Year Leanne Liddle has been appointed to Flinders University’s governing body, the Flinders University Council.
An Arrernte woman from central Australia with deep connections to both the South Australian and Northern Territory communities, Ms Liddle is the Director of Aboriginal Justice in the Northern Territory’s Attorney-General’s Department, and Deputy Chair of the Menzies School of Health Research and the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
Chancellor Stephen Gerlach AM says Ms Liddle’s appointment further reinforces Flinders University’s enduring commitment in South Australia and the Northern Territory, with campuses from Adelaide and regional South Australia, through central Australia and across the Top End.
“At almost the same time that Flinders was establishing its health and medical teaching and research presence in the Northern Territory 25 years ago, Ms Liddle was studying law at Flinders University in Adelaide and already focused on making a difference” Mr Gerlach says.
“We’re both pleased and privileged to have an alumna with her outstanding credentials and wealth of experience joining our governance team, one who brings a representative perspective of both the Northern Territory and South Australia to our leadership.”
“Education is at the heart of change and advancement. Ms Liddle’s understanding of the importance of education in its many forms and across culture will strengthen our efforts to change lives through knowledge, and champion inclusion and opportunity.”
The first female Aboriginal police officer in South Australia, Ms Liddle’s experiences of racism and abuse during her decade of service fuelled her dedication to the principles of equity and social justice, working across environmental and Aboriginal land management and Aboriginal justice policy.
She went on to study law at Flinders University as a mature aged student and has also earned academic qualifications in Environmental Science and Management.
Ms Liddle credits her grandmother and great-grandmother as her greatest teachers, who passed on their knowledge about traditional land management skills, particularly with the use of fire, and understood the power of learning in all its forms.
“My late mother Jean always understood the benefits of education – she had limited access to excel in her chosen field, but she always understood that it was the key to creating change, real change, and always told us that once we had it, it couldn’t be taken from us. Because of her strengths and advice, it has allowed all her children and many others who she mentored to achieve their goals and I want to continue her legacy,” she says.
“Mum worked incredibly hard to point all of us in the right direction and we don’t want to let her down. I know she would be proud that I have this important leadership position at the university where I studied, she’d see it as a chance to drive meaningful change so that others can also have the opportunity of access to education. In turn, my young daughter will attend Flinders University; generation by generation we are strengthening our voice and seizing opportunity and being fearless” Ms Liddle says.
Ms Liddle travelled extensively across the Northern Territory between 2018 and 2021 to meet with Aboriginal communities to discuss an Aboriginal Justice Agreement.
Launched in August 2021, Ms Liddle says the Aboriginal Justice Agreement includes deliverables that are attainable and practical. She is confident that all outcomes will be realised within five years.
Leanne Liddle received a Flinders University 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award for her distinguished leadership and commitment to justice over the past 30 years including the Aboriginal Justice Agreement for the Northern Territory.
She commenced her tenure as a Flinders University Council member on Thursday 11 May.