Mitchell is a proud Kamilaroi man, born in Tamworth NSW.

Mitchell commenced in the Australian Public Service in 2010, working for Services Australia (formerly Department of Human Services), and was part of the agency’s first intake of the Indigenous Apprenticeship Program. Mitchell’s apprenticeship was front-line service delivery, assisting Australians in accessing essential social welfare payments and services.

After four years, Mitchell relocated from his home community, Tweed Heads NSW, to Canberra to further pursue his public service career. Since moving to Canberra, Mitchell worked in a variety of roles such as: Team Leader of front-line service delivery staff, Assistant Director/Director, leading governance and coordination teams; Departmental Liaison Officer, a conduit between the Minister’s office and Services Australia; Executive Officer, supporting senior executive with strategic and operational matters; Ministerial Adviser, advising Ministers on various portfolio matters. In each role held, Mitchell has advocated for creating opportunities for Indigenous people.

Mitchell has a passion for leadership and commenced in the Pat Turner Scholarship Program in Semester 2 2023, studying a Masters of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, specialising in leadership.

Conrad is a Director in the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Over his 15 year career in the Australian Public Service, Conrad has contributed to the development of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, the Carbon Pricing Mechanism, the Emissions Reduction Fund, the National Energy Guarantee, the Safeguard Mechanism, and transport emissions policy. Conrad also worked on the 2008 and 2011 Garnaut Climate Change Reviews.

Through his PhD research at the ANU’s Crawford School of Public Policy, Conrad will examine factors that support upscaling the stringency of countries’ climate change mitigation policy instruments.

Peter joined the APS in 2012. He has provided advice on program design, program management, strategic policy and regulatory administration for the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. While doing this, Peter has embedded strategies to enhance Indigenous outcomes across the breadth of his work.

Peter is using his postgraduate study to continue to enhance Indigenous outcomes by applying economics to policy formulation and evaluation. He is also hoping to develop embedded understanding of issues involved in the coordination of economic policies, and better analyse the economic effects of policy changes and communicate them to a public, business or government audience.

From Services Australia, Sharna is a proud Wuluwarra and Pitta Pitta woman, born and raised in Mount Isa Queensland. Sharna began her career in the public service as an APS2 and has since secured a wealth of knowledge through various jobs in service delivery; fraud and compliance; business improvement; human resources; parliamentary services, and; agency transformation.

Throughout her career Sharna has observed significant gaps between the intent of policy, to the delivery on the ground. Sharna aims to utilise the Master of Public Policy to empower her with the knowledge to close the divide between policy intent and program delivery.

Her goal is to support the public service to establish a best practice for seeking input from end users and communities in the development and implementation of policy and programs.

Natalie has held a variety of roles across the Commonwealth and NSW public service. She has a strong interest in health and leadership, and is passionate about the development and implementation of programs that provide the best outcomes for all people but particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 

In 2009, the National Health and Hospital Reform Commission released a report including 123 recommendations across four themes. The recommendations included substantial reforms to the structure, governance, and funding of Australia's health care system. The government's response the following year supported or noted 122 of the 123 recommendations. One recommendation was rejected - the recommendation to establish a National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Health Authority. This came within a year of Australia's endorsement of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), a declaration which foregrounds the right of Indigenous peoples to self-determination.   

The decision to reject the establishment of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Authority appears to be in contradiction to other decisions made in the relation to Indigenous affairs at the time. This research seeks to understand why this reform to facilitate Indigenous self-determination within the Australian hospital system failed to be implemented. It investigates potential structures that might facilitate Indigenous self-determination in the hospital system in Australia, and the reform processes that might be needed to realise them.