Thaarramali Pearson is a Bama Bagarrmuguwarra from the Kalpowar, Jeannie River and Starke region of Cape York.

Thaarramali commenced his public sector career in the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies in early 2016. Since 2018, Thaarramali has been actively involved in shaping significant Commonwealth policies, supporting reforms in apprenticeships from both the central agency and line agency perspectives. Thaarramali’s substantive role is as a Director in the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, where he develops complex financial and behavioural modelling to inform Australian apprenticeship policy development. Since 2022, Thaarramali has been working remotely from Cape York.

Thaarramali completed a Master of Public Administration (MPA) at the Australian National University and is now undertaking PhD research into the application of the Australian Government’s Budget rules and their influence on policy development.

Supervisor: Associate Professor Michael Di Francesco