Indigenous Women's Diplomacy Panel

Dr Matilda Williams-House is a Ngambri/ Ngunnawal/ Wiradyuri Elder who has dedicated her life to the pursuit of social justice for Indigenous people. One of ten children, she was born and raised on Erambie-Cowra Aboriginal reserve, Hollywood Aboriginal reserve at Yass and Ngambri-Kamberri Country and has multiple Wiradyuri, Walgalu and Wallabalooa ancestries. In the early 1960’s Dr House married and began raising her family of four children on Ngambri Country. In early 1970’s she began working as an Aboriginal liaison/social officer at the Department of Aboriginal Affairs in Canberra, assisting Aboriginal people with health, education, welfare and employment. A tireless supporter of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy since its founding in 1972, she helped found the ACT/NSW Aboriginal Legal Service, Ngambri Local Aboriginal Land Council in Queanbeyan in the 1980s. She had a key role in establishing Winnunga-Nimmitjah Aboriginal Medical Service and the Australian National University's Tjabal Indigenous Higher Education Centre in 1989, which provides support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. In 2006, Dr House was named Canberra Citizen of the Year. On the eve of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations in February 2008, she became the first person to perform the Welcome to Country at the 42nd opening of Federal Parliament. Her contribution to her community was recognised by the ANU with the conferral of the Degree of Doctor of the University in 2017.

Leilani Bin-Juda PSM (Torres Strait Islands) is of Torres Strait Islander heritage with family links to Hammond, Murray and Darnley Islands. Her great- grandfathers were from Japan, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Jamaica and Niue, and her great-grandmothers were from various islands of the Torres Strait.  She was born in Cairns and graduated from Central Queensland University (B. Bus). She has had an extensive career in the Australian Public Service with nearly 30 years of experience in international relations, crime prevention, health, museum development, cultural heritage and public policy. 

As Australia’s first Torres Strait Islander appointed to Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Torres Strait Treaty Liaison Office in 2016, Leilani managed a range of highly sensitive issues relating to Australia’s proximity to Papua New Guinea, including biosecurity risks and health security matters, illegal activities such as people and drug smuggling, fisheries, and community expectations about shared management of the environmental and marine resources.

Leilani is an active proponent and champion of Australia’s Indigenous heritage both domestically and internationally. She was awarded the Public Service Medal in 2019.  She has worked as a curator at the National Museum; Manager of the Cultural Program at the Australian Pavilion at Shanghai World Expo in 2010, adviser on economic governance in the Solomon Islands, and as a diplomat promoting gender and sports diplomacy in Papua New Guinea. She was formerly the CEO of the Torres Strait Regional Authority and is currently preparing for an overseas assignment.

Joy Bulkanhawuy (Yolngu) is a researcher and Senior Lecturer in Aboriginal Studies with the First Nations Sovereignty and Diplomacy Centre at CDU. She is from Galiwin’ku and co-holds knowledges for the Djambarrpuyŋu peoples in ceremonies and everyday life. “I do not sing as men do, but I perform my authorised knowledge through ceremonial crying called milkarri. I’m authorised to share my knowledge and professional skills as a Djambarrpuyŋu elder with others. Bulkanhawuy works closely with Northern Institute researchers as well as Yolŋu teachers providing guidance, cultural authority and education.

She has over 20 years of Yolŋu health professional experience and has also worked in the Aboriginal Resource and Development Services Inc. as a bilingual and bicultural health educator, delivering community services for Yolŋu people in Darwin and East Arnhem Land. As a professional Yolŋu health educator, she always works in two-ways; Yolŋu and Western biomedical health practices. In collaboration with researchers at CDU and Menzies School of Health Research, and Yolŋu research professionals at Yalu Marŋgithinyaraw in Galiwin’ku, Bulkanhawuy has worked on research projects in the disciplines of disaster management, natural resource management, public health and language education.

Jenny Manmurulu (Mawng) is from the Kunwinjku-speaking Mayirrwulidj clan. She is a senior Indigenous teacher and cultural advisor at Warruwi Community School where she teaches Mawng language and culture. Jenny is the lead female dancer and ceremony leader for the Inyjalarrku ‘mermaid’ ceremony of her late husband David Manmurulu, carried on today by her sons. She has presented at numerous academic and public forums for linguistics, musicology, anthropology and education, and has co-authored publications on song and language from Goulburn Island, and exchanged manyardi (public dance accompanied songs) with Indigenous ceremony leaders as part of mamurrng (diplomacy) ceremonies, academic forums and festivals. Jenny has helped to develop Indigenous culture and language programs for students, involving teaching Inyjalarrku ‘mermaid’ dances to the female students and passing on her tradition of pandanus weaving. She is a director of the Yagbani Aboriginal Corporation that is creating community-based enterprises based on fisheries and aquaculture.

Falemalu Malua (Tuvalu) also known as Malu, is an indigenous woman of the South Pacific nation of Tuvalu. She lived her primary years on the beautiful island of Funafuti, the capital of Tuvalu before she and her family migrated to Australia in 1999 to Brisbane’s Logan district.

Having worked in community development for over 10 years, her working career started after graduating from Bond University on the Gold Coast. She secured her first permanent job as an administration assistant for the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) Program which then evolved to a Project Coordinator role working on multiple government funded programs in training and skills development within the Mount Isa community and surrounding remote communities. During this time, she had the opportunity to visit communities as far west as Alpurrurulam, south to Djarra and Boulia, and north to Doomadgee, Normanton and Karumba.

During these visits, she had the privilege to meet some great people and discovered some similarities in cultural practices and community dynamics with her people in Tuvalu. This is where her passion for community services emerged. Following Mount Isa, she then relocated to Townsville where she worked in the Community Relations Department with the North Queensland Toyota Cowboys. Following this experience, her domestic work in community development then broadened to the international level. Prior to the global outbreak of COVID-19, she returned to Tuvalu as a Senior Program Manager for the Australian High Commission (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade). Her work experience with DFAT added to her growing interest in cultural preservation and diplomacy with particular focus on advocacy through gender and sports. She now contracts for DT Global on the Pacific Women Lead Enabling Services program.