Draft:List of Indigenous Australians with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Prior to 1950 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were excluded from tertiary education. The first tertiary courses completed by Indigenous students was in teh 1950s. 16 years later, Charles Perkins was the first Indigenous Australian to earn a higher degree. He completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Sydney in 1966.

30 years after Indigenous Australians being allowed to enter tertiary education the first PhD achieved was awarded to Bill Jonas. Bill studied a PhD in geography from the University of Papua New Guinea in 1980. In the 80s Tertiary entry programs began and less than 5 indigenous PhD graduates a year.

The 1990s saw higher education research centres of excellence created at in Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales at five universities. At this point in time there were 55 Indigenous Australians with PhDs.

The establishment of development and support centres at most major tertiary institutions came in 2000s. Between 2007-2012, 143 Indigenous Australians received PhDs. At 2014 the Census and Department of Education data showed more than 400 Indigenous Australians had PhDs.


 * ALL ABOVE / REWORD
 * 2012: National Indigenous Research and Knowledges Network comprises 44 Indigenous academics from 22 universities, the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies and five Indigenous partner organisations who will provide mentors and workshops for Indigenous people undertaking a PhD.Only 0.4% of completed PhDs in Australia were undertaken by Indigenous students in 2010, according to government statistics. Closing this gap from 2012 would mean increasing postgraduate completion by 600%, said Professor Aileen Moreton-Robinson, Professor of Indigenous studies at the Queensland University of Technology and Director of the new network. Currently 164 Indigenous people nationwide hold a PhD,


 * 1) William "Bill" Jonas - A Worimi Man and the First Indigenous person to earn a PhD in geography from the University of Papua New Guinea in 1980. He also received an honorary doctorate from the University of Newcastle in 1998. Bill was an academic and social justice activist . Dr William Jonas served as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. Producing the Social Justice Reports of 2001 and 2003.
 * 2) Eve Fesl - Gubbi Gubbi and Gungulu woman and the first Indigenous Australian to receive a PhD from an Australian university, Monash University, in 1989. Her work focuses on sociolinguistic policy and implementation and land rights advocacy.
 * 3) Martin Nakata - first Torres Strait Islander man to complete a PhD.
 * 4) Sana Mary Nakata - Daughter of Martin Nakata, first Torres Strait Islander to complete a PhD. Completed her PhD in 2012. Focus area political theory.
 * 5) Misty Jenkins  - Ballarat and Gunditjara woman who was the first Indigenous person to study at Oxford in 2007 and then Cambridge University. She completed a PhD in immunology at Melbourne University. Her area of interest is cancer cell death research and serves on several boards on Indigenous higher education and research.
 * 6) Aileen Moreton Robinson - Goenpul woman of Qundamooka people from Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) in Queensland. Comleted a PhD in 1998 at Griffith University. Her thesis "Talkin' up to the white woman: Indigenous women and feminism in Australia" was published as a book in 1999.
 * 7) Paul Gray - PhD in experimental psychology from Cambridge. Focus area of work is Indigenous child protection and psychology
 * 8) Christian Thomson - PhD in Fine Arts from Cambridge
 * 9) Vicki Grieves - First Warraimay person to gain a PhD
 * 10) Genevieve Grieves - Daughter of Dr Vicki Grieves, the first Warraimay person to gain a PhD. Genevieive's PhD explored the representation of Aboriginal people in south-east Australia.
 * 11) Margo Weir - Awarded a PhD in curriculum design and evaluation from Melbourne University in 2000.
 * 12) Gary Foley - Awarded a PhD for research on Aboriginal organisations in 2003.
 * 13) Tracey Westermann
 * 14) Alex Brown
 * 15) Kalinda Griffiths
 * 16) Sandra Philips
 * 17) Rhett Loban
 * 18) Andrew Goodman
 * 19) Ray Mahoney
 * 20) Lisa Whop
 * 21) Alana Gall
 * 22) Tamara Butler - Undumbi woman from the Sunshine Coast region of Queensland. PhD from University of Queensland, that investigated how social identity shapes our help-seeking behaviour. Focus area in Indigenous health, particularly improving cancer outcomes.
 * 23) Brett Biles - Murrawarri man from Brewarrina. Focus area is Indigenous health and medicine. Associate Dean Indigenous and Senior Scientia Lecturer at the University of New South Wales.
 * 24) Simone Ulalka Tur - PhD in 2018 with a background in education. Professor Simon is at Flinders University as the  Pro Vice Chancellor (Indigenous). She is also an educator, artist, writer and advocate.
 * 1) Simone Ulalka Tur - PhD in 2018 with a background in education. Professor Simon is at Flinders University as the  Pro Vice Chancellor (Indigenous). She is also an educator, artist, writer and advocate.