Bec is a proud Wiradjuri woman born and raised In Wagga Wagga NSW. Bec commenced her public service career in 2014, in service delivery at Services Australia. She joined the Department of Environment and Energy as a graduate in 2017 after completing a Bachelor of Environmental Science. She has also worked for the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, with a focus on improving Indigenous Engagement and Partnerships in the Murray-Darling Basin. 

Bec aims to use the Master of Arts to gain a better understanding of Indigenous Engagement and Policy development in different contexts across Australia, and use these learnings to support the Australian Public Service to enhance Indigenous engagement practices.

Carrie has worked at the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) since 2010. Most recently, she was a Director in the Data Integration Services Branch, leading a team of data engineers to build, maintain and enhance the Person Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA, formerly known as MADIP). In this role, Carrie oversaw significant expansion and enhancement of PLIDA to increase the frequency and timeliness of data updates and improve the usability of the data for researchers.

Through her work at the ABS, Carrie developed an appreciation of some common challenges experienced by government and academic researchers working with data from PLIDA. This inspired the topic of Carrie’s PhD research in the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at ANU, which aims to develop methods to identify cohorts of interest in integrated data assets such as PLIDA. Carrie hopes this work will assist government researchers to make better use of PLIDA for policy formulation and evaluation.

Jami-Lee is a proud Biripi woman born and raised on Biripi country, NSW.

She has been working for the Australian Public Service for 11 years – starting her career in Services Australia as an Indigenous apprentice. Shortly after finishing the apprenticeship, Jami-Lee commenced a Bachelor of Social Work and her commitment to service and her agency were recognised through being awarded an internal Indigenous scholarship. She was then successful in securing a place in the agency’s national graduate program and has been working on country, as a Services Australia Social Worker for the past four years.

Jami-Lee is studying a Master of Public Policy through Charles Darwin University and has a passion for policies that apply to First Nations peoples. She is an essential agent of change who is committed to influencing the policies, programs and services that directly impact the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.