The organisation’s Board comprises members from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peak bodies and organisations across Australia.
Read the Gayaa Dhuwi Constitution here.
The Finance, Risk, and Audit Committee (FRAC) a sub-committee of our Board. The FRAC has a responsibility to review and monitor the financial performance of our organisation and related financial matters, and to make recommendations to the Board accordingly.
Our FRAC consists of Mr Tony Kiessler, Dr Clinton Schultz, and Mr Dennis Bothma.
Professor Helen Milroy
Chair
Helen Milroy is a descendant of the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia but was born and educated in Perth. She is Australia’s first Indigenous doctor and child psychiatrist. Currently Helen is the Stan Perron Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Perth Children’s Hospital and University of Western Australia and Honorary Research at the Telethon Kids Institute. Helen is the Chair of the Gayaa Dhuwi Proud Spirit Australia organisation and a board member of Beyond Blue. Helen has been on state and national mental health and research advisory committees and boards with a particular focus on Indigenous mental health as well as the wellbeing of children. From 2013-2017 Helen was a Commissioner for the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and from 2017-2021 was a Commissioner with the National Mental Health Commission. In 2020, Helen was the joint winner of the Australian Mental Health Prize and named the WA Australian of the Year for 2021.Helen is also an artist and published author and illustrator of children’s books. She has been shortlisted for several children’s literature awards and received the 2021 Whitley Award for best early childhood reader for Backyard Birds.
Professor Helen Milroy
Chair
Helen Milroy is a descendant of the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia but was born and educated in Perth. She is Australia’s first Indigenous doctor and child psychiatrist. Currently Helen is the Stan Perron Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Perth Children’s Hospital and University of Western Australia and Honorary Research at the Telethon Kids Institute. Helen is the Chair of the Gayaa Dhuwi Proud Spirit Australia organisation and a board member of Beyond Blue. Helen has been on state and national mental health and research advisory committees and boards with a particular focus on Indigenous mental health as well as the wellbeing of children. From 2013-2017 Helen was a Commissioner for the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and from 2017-2021 was a Commissioner with the National Mental Health Commission. In 2020, Helen was the joint winner of the Australian Mental Health Prize and named the WA Australian of the Year for 2021.Helen is also an artist and published author and illustrator of children’s books. She has been shortlisted for several children’s literature awards and received the 2021 Whitley Award for best early childhood reader for Backyard Birds.
Dr Clinton Schultz
Director
Dr Clinton Schultz is a Gamilaraay man and registered psychologist with a keen interest in holistic wellness, particularly the wellness of workers in health and community services.
Clinton’s PhD is titled: Winanga-li-gu (Higher order listening), Guwaa-li-gu (higher order speaking), Maruma-li-gu (higher order healing) Factors of holistic wellbeing for members of the Aboriginal health and community workforce. Clinton received the award for academic excellence in a thesis from Griffith University for this work. He is the Director First Nations Strategy and Partnerships with Blackdog Institute, and Co-founder of Sobah Beverages.
Dr Clinton Schultz
Director
Dr Clinton Schultz is a Gamilaraay man and registered psychologist with a keen interest in holistic wellness, particularly the wellness of workers in health and community services.
Clinton’s PhD is titled: Winanga-li-gu (Higher order listening), Guwaa-li-gu (higher order speaking), Maruma-li-gu (higher order healing) Factors of holistic wellbeing for members of the Aboriginal health and community workforce. Clinton received the award for academic excellence in a thesis from Griffith University for this work. He is the Director First Nations Strategy and Partnerships with Blackdog Institute, and Co-founder of Sobah Beverages.
Mr Rob McPhee
Director
Rob’s people hail from Derby in the West Kimberley and the Pilbara region of WA. He has held a number of roles including a lecturer at Curtin University and the University of Western Australia and has worked as a senior adviser in community relations and Indigenous Affairs to the oil and gas industry. He is passionate about social justice for Indigenous people and currently co-chairs the Commonwealth funded Kimberley Aboriginal Suicide Prevention Trial Working Group.
Rob McPhee is the Chief Executive Officer for Danila Dilba Health Service in Darwin. Prior to this, he was Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer at Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services in Broome WA. He is currently Deputy Chairperson for the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance NT (AMSANT).
Mr Rob McPhee
Director
Rob’s people hail from Derby in the West Kimberley and the Pilbara region of WA. He has held a number of roles including a lecturer at Curtin University and the University of Western Australia and has worked as a senior adviser in community relations and Indigenous Affairs to the oil and gas industry. He is passionate about social justice for Indigenous people and currently co-chairs the Commonwealth funded Kimberley Aboriginal Suicide Prevention Trial Working Group.
Rob McPhee is the Chief Executive Officer for Danila Dilba Health Service in Darwin. Prior to this, he was Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer at Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services in Broome WA. He is currently Deputy Chairperson for the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance NT (AMSANT).
Dr Mark Wenitong
Director
Dr Mark Wenitong is from the Kabi Kabi tribal group of south Queensland. He is currently working as a Medical Advisor at the Apunipima Cape York Health Council in Cairns. As Medical Advisor, Mark’s role is to provide strategic leadership, research translation into practice, support and advice to the Board, CEO and senior management team.
Mark completed his degree in medicine at the Newcastle University Medical School in 1995 and was the third Aboriginal male to become a doctor. After his basic clinical training in Newcastle, Mark began his medical career working in community development with World Vision and also spent time working in Central Australia.
Mark has worked as Senior Medical Officer at Wuchopperen Health Services in Cairns for nine years; acting CEO of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation in primary health care on Oekusi during the East Timor conflict; and as Medical Advisor for the Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health in Canberra. Dr Wenitong is a past President and founder of the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association and is a member of several state and national advisory committees.
Mark is committed to improving the health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across Australia through community control. He is interested in primordial prevention, social and emotional well-being, early childhood, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander chronic disease, microbiome, epigenetics, refugee health and prison health.
Dr Mark Wenitong
Director
Dr Mark Wenitong is from the Kabi Kabi tribal group of south Queensland. He is currently working as a Medical Advisor at the Apunipima Cape York Health Council in Cairns. As Medical Advisor, Mark’s role is to provide strategic leadership, research translation into practice, support and advice to the Board, CEO and senior management team.
Mark completed his degree in medicine at the Newcastle University Medical School in 1995 and was the third Aboriginal male to become a doctor. After his basic clinical training in Newcastle, Mark began his medical career working in community development with World Vision and also spent time working in Central Australia.
Mark has worked as Senior Medical Officer at Wuchopperen Health Services in Cairns for nine years; acting CEO of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation in primary health care on Oekusi during the East Timor conflict; and as Medical Advisor for the Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health in Canberra. Dr Wenitong is a past President and founder of the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association and is a member of several state and national advisory committees.
Mark is committed to improving the health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across Australia through community control. He is interested in primordial prevention, social and emotional well-being, early childhood, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander chronic disease, microbiome, epigenetics, refugee health and prison health.
Professor Pat Dudgeon
Director
Pat Dudgeon is from the Bardi people in Western Australia. She is a psychologist and professor at the Poche Centre for Aboriginal Health and the School of Indigenous Studies at UWA. Her area of research includes Indigenous social and emotional wellbeing and suicide prevention. She is a member on many boards and committees such as on the National Suicide Prevention Office Advisory Board, the Culture, Care, Connect Advisory Group – National, Regional and Local Suicide Prevention and Aftercare Networks, NACCHO, Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association (AIPA)and the Australians for Mental Health. She was also a national Mental Health Commissioner for 5 years.
She is the director of the Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention at UWA. She is also the lead chief investigator of a national research project, Transforming Indigenous Mental Health and Wellbeing. She has many publications in Indigenous mental health such as the Working Together Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Wellbeing Principals and Practice 2014 and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Evaluation Project Report – What the Evidence and Our People Tell Us 2016.
Professor Pat Dudgeon
Director
Pat Dudgeon is from the Bardi people in Western Australia. She is a psychologist and professor at the Poche Centre for Aboriginal Health and the School of Indigenous Studies at UWA. Her area of research includes Indigenous social and emotional wellbeing and suicide prevention. She is a member on many boards and committees such as on the National Suicide Prevention Office Advisory Board, the Culture, Care, Connect Advisory Group – National, Regional and Local Suicide Prevention and Aftercare Networks, NACCHO, Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association (AIPA)and the Australians for Mental Health. She was also a national Mental Health Commissioner for 5 years.
She is the director of the Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention at UWA. She is also the lead chief investigator of a national research project, Transforming Indigenous Mental Health and Wellbeing. She has many publications in Indigenous mental health such as the Working Together Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Wellbeing Principals and Practice 2014 and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Evaluation Project Report – What the Evidence and Our People Tell Us 2016.
Dr Jean Pepperill
Director
Dr Jean Pepperill is a Kaytetye woman from Barrow Creek in Central Australia. She has completed all her medical training in the Northern Territory. She currently living in Garramila (Darwin), on Larrakia country, where she has been teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health in the Flinders University Northern Territory Medical Program. As a previous trainee with the Royal Australian New Zealand College of Psychiatry, she has a passion for mental health and wellbeing and is now pursuing general practice training with RACGP.
Dr Jean Pepperill is passionate about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and rural health with no plans to leave her home in the Northern Territory. Outside of clinical work, she serves on the Headspace First Nations Cultural Governance Committee and is the AIDA representative on the Gaaya Dhui board. She is also a Jilya Psychology Scholarship recipient for 2023 and studies a Graduate Diploma of Psychology at UTS. In her spare time Dr Jean Pepperill is a passionate photographer and painter.
Dr Jean Pepperill
Director
Dr Jean Pepperill is a Kaytetye woman from Barrow Creek in Central Australia. She has completed all her medical training in the Northern Territory. She currently living in Garramila (Darwin), on Larrakia country, where she has been teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health in the Flinders University Northern Territory Medical Program. As a previous trainee with the Royal Australian New Zealand College of Psychiatry, she has a passion for mental health and wellbeing and is now pursuing general practice training with RACGP.
Dr Jean Pepperill is passionate about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and rural health with no plans to leave her home in the Northern Territory. Outside of clinical work, she serves on the Headspace First Nations Cultural Governance Committee and is the AIDA representative on the Gaaya Dhui board. She is also a Jilya Psychology Scholarship recipient for 2023 and studies a Graduate Diploma of Psychology at UTS. In her spare time Dr Jean Pepperill is a passionate photographer and painter.
Professor Tom Calma AO
Patron
Professor Tom Calma AO is an Elder from the Kungarakan tribal group and a member of the Iwaidja tribal group. He has been involved in Indigenous affairs at a local, community, state, national and international level for 45 years.
From 1995-2002, Tom served as a senior Australian diplomat in India and Vietnam. He served as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner from 2004-2010; and as Race Discrimination Commissioner from 2004-2009, both roles within the Australian Human Rights Commission.
Tom has a special interest in Indigenous health, social and emotional wellbeing, mental health, suicide prevention, social determinants theory and empowerment programs. He is an international public speaker, as well as being at the forefront of research and research-translation into government policy, in these areas. In particular, Tom led the Close the Gap for Indigenous Health Equality Campaign (2006 on) and has held the role of National Coordinator Tackling Indigenous Smoking since 2010. He chaired the ministerial committee that developed the inaugural National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Strategy in 2013 and is currently Chair and Patron of the Poche Indigenous Health Network and a Chair and/or member of a number of other boards and committees across Australia.
Appointed in 2014 as Chancellor of the University of Canberra, Professor Calma is the first Indigenous male chancellor of an Australian university. He is currently also Professor of Practice (Indigenous Engagement) in the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney.
In 2012, Tom was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to the Indigenous community as an advocate for human rights and social justice through contributions to government policy and reform, and through his work in supporting cross cultural understanding. In 2013, Tom was named the ACT Australian of the Year for his service and commitment to the Indigenous community as an advocate for human rights and social justice and in January 2023 he was announced Senior Australian of the Year 2023 in recognition of his work in aged care and the Voice.
Professor Tom Calma AO
Patron
Professor Tom Calma AO is an Elder from the Kungarakan tribal group and a member of the Iwaidja tribal group. He has been involved in Indigenous affairs at a local, community, state, national and international level for 45 years.
From 1995-2002, Tom served as a senior Australian diplomat in India and Vietnam. He served as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner from 2004-2010; and as Race Discrimination Commissioner from 2004-2009, both roles within the Australian Human Rights Commission.
Tom has a special interest in Indigenous health, social and emotional wellbeing, mental health, suicide prevention, social determinants theory and empowerment programs. He is an international public speaker, as well as being at the forefront of research and research-translation into government policy, in these areas. In particular, Tom led the Close the Gap for Indigenous Health Equality Campaign (2006 on) and has held the role of National Coordinator Tackling Indigenous Smoking since 2010. He chaired the ministerial committee that developed the inaugural National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Strategy in 2013 and is currently Chair and Patron of the Poche Indigenous Health Network and a Chair and/or member of a number of other boards and committees across Australia.
Appointed in 2014 as Chancellor of the University of Canberra, Professor Calma is the first Indigenous male chancellor of an Australian university. He is currently also Professor of Practice (Indigenous Engagement) in the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney.
In 2012, Tom was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to the Indigenous community as an advocate for human rights and social justice through contributions to government policy and reform, and through his work in supporting cross cultural understanding. In 2013, Tom was named the ACT Australian of the Year for his service and commitment to the Indigenous community as an advocate for human rights and social justice and in January 2023 he was announced Senior Australian of the Year 2023 in recognition of his work in aged care and the Voice.
