Craig Ritchie
Director
Craig Ritchie is an Aboriginal man of the Dhunghutti and Biripi nations. He is and independent advisor and researcher and until August 2023 was the Chief Executive Officer at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS). Craig joined AIATSIS as deputy CEO in April 2016, and formally appointed CEO in May 2017. Prior to joining, Craig has worked in other senior roles in the Department of Education and Training 2011–16 in roles heading Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander higher education, higher education access and participation for people from low-SES backgrounds, and international student mobility, as well as founding director, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health in the ACT Government. Craig has extensive experience in the community sector, including as CEO of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) – the peak advocacy body for Aboriginal community controlled health services.
During his public service career Craig was one of a growing number of Indigenous Commonwealth Government agency heads and a founding member of the APS Indigenous SES Network. He is a Honorary Senior Fellow at the university of Melbourne. He serves on the Vice-Chancellor’s Industry Advisory Board at the University of Technology Sydney. Craig studied history, classics and education at the University of Newcastle, has a post-graduate qualification in management and is currently completing his PhD at the Australian National University. His thesis topic is Culture and Policymaking: Towards Better Aboriginal Policy and explores the cultural basis of contemporary policymaking and researching the culture-based transformation of policymaking systems in Australia on the basis of Aboriginal culture.
