Sir Roland Wilson Foundation

After completing a double degree in economics and commerce, Cris entered the public service in 1999 and was later accepted into the 2000 graduate program. Cris’ public service career has included policy and program roles covering Indigenous employment and economic development, strategic policy roles, corporate governance roles, and in vocational education and training policy and legislation.

Cris is a descendant of the Stolen Generations. With a father removed from his mother in Meanjin (Brisbane) on Turrbal and Yuggera country, Cris was born and raised on Ngunnawal land. Growing up in Canberra with two parents who worked in public sector roles, some might say his pathway into the APS was predictable.

Cris’ Master of Leadership degree included specialisations in business administration, public policy and leadership. Through his studies, Cris explored how emerging organisational performance frameworks and leadership models can best be applied in the public service context, helping to ensure the APS retains its ongoing relevance to both the Government of the day and to the public it serves. Cris was the recipient of the Pat Turner Coursework Prize in 2020 and 2021.

Since returning to service, Cris has been promoted to Assistant Secretary in the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, responsible for driving efforts across DEWR to help Close the Gap.

Cris is the alumni representative on the Pat Turner Scholarship Advisory Group.

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.

Trish is a Meriam Neur (Murray Island woman), from Waibene (Thursday Island), Zenadth Kes (Torres Strait). She comes from a strong and proud family, with lineage to the Geuram tribe from Mer and family connections to Dauar Island, Yarrabah, New Caledonia and Jamaica. Trish’s professional journey has been quite expansive. Over the past 24 years she has worked in a variety of roles in government, non-government and community organisations. She is a key community advocate and leader, having supported the ACT Torres Strait Islander community both personally and professionally in her role as Director of the Kara Buai Torres Strait Islander Corporation in Canberra.

Trish commenced her career in APS with the Department of Health and Aged Care, influencing and supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health policy and programs. Following completion of a Master of Culture, Health and Medicine at ANU, she accepted a secondment opportunity with Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, in the department’s First Nations Policy – Closing the Gap team.

Currently, Trish is working on Country in Waibene (Thursday Island), leading strategic engagement, policy and projects in the Torres Strait Regional Authority’s healthy communities and safe communities programs.

Her goal as a Pat Turner alumna and Torres Strait Islander leader in the APS is to elevate and strengthen the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across the entirety of the policy lifecycle.​