Mick Gooda

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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Justice Commissioner

November 3, 2010

"Towards a reconciled Australia"

We are living in a time that could finally see Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples take their rightful place in Australian society, says Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Mick Gooda.

Commissioner Gooda will address the National Press Club on Wednesday, 3 November, where he will highlight the importance of strengthening relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the broader community, strengthening and redefining relationships with governments of all levels, and strengthening and consolidating relationships within Indigenous communities, as the necessary ingredients for moving towards a reconciled Australia.

Commissioner Gooda will lay out the broad priorities of his term in what promises to be a challenging and ultimately optimistic assessment of what can be achieved in the context of the new political and social landscape that exists post the national apology and the recent election.

"If there is unity, respect and equality in these relationships the result will be a stronger, better, fairer Australia where the potential of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can be fully realised'.

ABOUT MICK GOODA

Mick Gooda is a descendent of the Gangulu people of central Queensland. He is a senior executive with 25 years experience and a record of attaining high-level goals and leading multi-million dollar service programs and organisational reform.

Immediately prior to taking up the position of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Mick was the Chief Executive Officer of the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health (CRCAH) for close to five and a half years. Here, he drove a research agenda which placed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people ‘front and centre’ in the research agenda, working alongside world leading researchers. His work at the CRCAH empowered Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to lead the research agenda in areas including: chronic disease management; skin infections; and promoting cultural change in hospitals to make them more appropriate to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Mick has extensive knowledge of the diversity of circumstance and cultural nuances of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples throughout Australia. He has been actively involved in advocacy in Indigenous affairs throughout Australia and has delivered strategic and sustainable results in remote, rural and urban environments. Mick has played a leadership role in a range of areas including: Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission and Senior Consultant to the Aboriginal Legal Service (WA).

He is highly experienced in policy and program development in the public and community sectors.

Mick is also currently a Board Member of the Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health Queensland, and is the Australian representative on the International Indigenous Council which focuses on healing and addictions. He also has an interest in the Lateral Violence Program in Canada and has been working closely with the First Nation people of Canada on the relevance of this program to Australia.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner