Adjunct Professor Muriel Bamblett

Hon DLittSW AM

Muriel is a Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung woman who has been employed as the Chief Executive Officer of the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency since 1999. Muriel was Chairperson of the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care for 10 years (the peak agency representing Indigenous Child and Family Services nationally) and was awarded a Lifetime Associate Membership of SNAICC.

Muriel is active on many boards and committees concerning children, families and the Indigenous community. These include the Victorian Children’s Council; the Aboriginal Treaty Working Group; the Indigenous Family Violence Partnership Forum and the Aboriginal Justice Forum. Muriel is on a number of Ministerial Advisory Groups, including for Aboriginal Affairs; and for Roadmap Implementation. Muriel is a Board Member of the Aboriginal Community Elders Service.

Muriel’s contribution to her community and to Victoria has been recognised in many awards including the Centenary of Federation Medal; the 2003 Robin Clark Memorial Award for Inspirational Leadership in the Field of Child and Family Welfare; the Women’s Electoral Lobby Inaugural Vida Goldstein Award; and was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2004 Australia Day Honours for her services to the community. In 2011 Muriel was inducted into the 2011 Victorian Honour Roll of Women and was a finalist for a Human Rights Medal with the Australian Human Rights Commission.

Academic institutions have also recognised Muriel’s work. In 2009 Muriel was appointed by La Trobe University as an Adjunct Professor in the School of Social Work and Social Policy. In 2017 Muriel was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters in Social Work by the University of Sydney in recognition of her outstanding contribution to Aboriginal child and family welfare.