The Lowitja Institute Board
The Lowitja Institute Board of Directors oversees the implementation of national research programs focused on improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. The Board has a majority Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander membership and comprises highly skilled and experienced health sector professionals. Updates on Board decisions are available at our Board Meeting page.
Ms Pat Anderson, Chairperson
Ms Pat Anderson is an Alyawarre woman known nationally and internationally as a powerful advocate for disadvantaged people, with a particular focus on the health of Australia’s First Peoples. She has extensive experience in all aspects of Aboriginal health, including community development, advocacy, policy formation and research ethics. Ms Anderson has spoken before the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous People, and was the Chair of the CRC for Aboriginal Health from 2003 to 2009. She has also been the CEO of Danila Dilba Health Service in Darwin, Chair of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, Executive Officer of the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT), and most recently she served as the interim Chair of The Lowitja Institute. Ms Anderson has had many essays, papers and articles published, including Little Children Are Sacred, a report on the abuse of Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory. In 2007 she was awarded the Public Health Association of Australia’s Sidney Sax Public Health Medal in recognition of her achievements.
Ms Stephanie Bell, Director
Ms Stephanie Bell, a Kulilla/Wakka Wakka woman and of Stolen Generation heritage of the Warramunga people, is Director of the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, one of the country’s largest and oldest Aboriginal medical services. She is also a founding member and current Chairperson of AMSANT, Chairperson of the Northern Territory Aboriginal Health Forum and also a member on many government advisory committees including the National NHMRC Antenatal Care Guidelines and Northern Territory Child Deaths Review and Prevention Committee. Her long-standing commitment to Aboriginal health is recognised through being the Chief Investigator on research projects and giving keynote presentations both nationally and internationally.
Ms Bell has a national and international reputation as an advocate for the development and delivery of primary health care services to marginalised and disadvantaged groups. She holds degrees in Business Management, is a member of the Sir Gus Nossal International Fellowship in Health Reform and is a graduate of the Inaugural Primary Health Care and Political Economy course from the People’s Health University in Cuenca, Ecuador.
Professor Peter Buckskin PSM, Director
Professor Peter Buckskin is a Narungga man from the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. He is currently Dean and Head of School of the David Unaipon College of Indigenous Education and Research within the Division of Education, Arts and Social Sciences at the University of South Australia. As an educator and professional bureaucrat for more than 30 years, Professor Buckskin’s passion has been the pursuit of educational excellence for Aboriginal students. He has worked as a school teacher in Western Australia and South Australia, and has been Chair of the South Australian Aboriginal Education Consultative Committee, a Ministerial Adviser, Superintendent of Schools and a senior executive at both State and Federal levels. For more than a decade Professor Buckskin worked as an officer in the Commonwealth's Senior Executive Service, where he occupied a number of strategic positions in the portfolios of Aboriginal Affairs, and of Employment, Education and Training.
In the 2001 Australia Day Honours, he was awarded the Commonwealth Public Service Medal (PSM) in recognition of his pursuit of equality in education for Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In 2005 Professo Buckskin received the Deadly Award for his outstanding contribution to Aboriginal Education, and in 2006 he became a Member of the Australian College of Educators and an elected Fellow of the Academy in 2007 for his continuing contribution to education.
Professor Buckskin served one term as a Commissioner of the Australian Commission to UNESCO and continues as Chair of the National Indigenous Higher Education Network, Executive Member of the World Indigenous Higher Education Consortium, Co-Chair of the South Australian Aboriginal Education and Training Consultative Body, Co-Chair of Reconciliation South Australia and is currently a Director of the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples.
Professor Lisa Jackson Pulver AM, Director
Professor Lisa Jackson Pulver, a Wiradjuri Koori woman, was appointed to the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of New South Wales in 2003, following a career that has progressed through public and community health. Professor Jackson Pulver is committed to developing solutions to improve population health outcomes for disadvantaged groups and communities. She holds the Inaugural Chair of Indigenous Health and is a Professor of Public Health at the University of New South Wales. She is also an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Neuroscience Research Australia, visiting Consultant at the Ageing Research Centre and the Director of the Muru Marri Indigenous Health Unit. Professor Jackson Pulver is a Squadron Leader in the RAAF Specialist Reserve and is currently serving 22 Squadron (City of Sydney) Richmond. She is also the co–founder of the Shalom Gamarada Scholarship Program and has been the recipient of the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council and the Ministry of Science and Medical Research awards.
In 2011, Professor Jackson Pulver was honoured to be made a Member of the Order of Australia for service to medical education, particularly through the Muru Marri Indigenous Health Unit and the University of New South Wales, and as a supporter of educational opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Mr Robin Lonergan, Director
Mr Robin Lonergan, a lawyer whose area of practice includes contract, commercial and corporate law, is a partner at Macrossans Lawyers, a firm dedicated to enriching our communities. He is the honorary advisor to the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses Inc., and has provided advice on the incorporation of the company limited by guarantee and on negotiations with additional service providers. Mr Lonergan is a Director of the Queensland Program of Assistance for the Survivors of Torture and Trauma, which provides assistance to refugees, and has served as a Director on the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra and the South Brisbane Immigration and Community Legal Service Boards. He provides legal advice to Aboriginal community organisations including the Brisbane Indigenous Media Association and other not-for-profit organisations.
Dr Louise Morauta PSM, Director
Dr Louise Morauta comes originally from England and has an Honours degree in sociology and a PhD in Social Anthropology from the London School of Economics. In Australia Dr Morauta has worked in the Commonwealth public service for more than 20 years, and has held senior positions in the departments of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Health and Ageing, and Finance. She has played a part in the development of social policy, Medicare benefits, pharmaceutical benefits and Commonwealth/State financing in the health sector.
In 2005 Dr Morauta was awarded the Public Service Medal for work on Australia’s health financing arrangements and the supply of blood and blood products. Following her retirement from the public service, Dr Morauta was appointed to the ACT Human Research Ethics Committee in Jan 2010.
Dr Sanchia Shibasaki, Director
Dr Sanchia Shibasaki is of Torres Strait Islander descent and has more than 15 years experience in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and health research. She has clinical experience working as a physiotherapist in Far North Queensland and the Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula Area. Her research includes completing a Masters degree in Applied Epidemiology in Indigenous Health and working with the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress in Alice Springs as the CRC for Aboriginal Health Research Fellow. Dr Shibasaki has since completed a Doctorate of Philosophy in Epidemiology, Population Health and Health Services at the Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute, Australian National University.
Dr Shibasaki was awarded a National Health and Medical Research Council Training Fellowship to explore knowledge translation in primary health care services, later withdrawing from the program to return to primary health care service delivery. She has been involved in national programs and projects relating to research ethics, evaluation of Healthy for Life (SCARF), and quality improvement, and has also worked with Aboriginal Community Controlled Health affiliates and services in Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia. Dr Shibasaki is based in Broome and is the Executive Manager of the Population Health Unit at the Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services Council.