A respected Yindjibarndi woman who has championed ethical research has been appointed Curtin\u2019s first Dean of Indigenous Futures in the Faculty of Humanities.<\/p>\n
Mandy Downing has started in the new position, which is responsible for ensuring Australia\u2019s Indigenous futures across the nation\u2019s culture and economy are supported and considered in the learning, research and partnership activities of the faculty.<\/p>\n
Curtin\u2019s Faculty of Humanities Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Richard Blythe said he was delighted to welcome Dean Downing to the position.<\/p>\n
\u201cA leading voice in ethical considerations for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research, Mandy has been influential in improving the awareness of ethical research considerations in Australia,\u201d Professor Blythe said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am thrilled to welcome someone of Mandy\u2019s calibre to the new position of Dean of Indigenous Futures in the Faculty of Humanities and look forward to seeing her valued contribution to the faculty by sharing her immense skills, talent and expertise.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dean Downing, who was raised on Wadjuk Noongar Boodjar, has worked at Curtin for 10 years in various research management and institutional governance roles with many years\u2019 experience in education, employment and training.<\/p>\n
This year, she was appointed the Co-Chair of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies National Research Ethics Committee.<\/p>\n
Dean Downing said she was honoured to take up the new role, adding she was passionate about ethical research and supporting Indigenous Australians aspirations in tertiary education.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m grateful to be part of a faculty that values Indigenous knowledge in education and research, and I look forward to building upon the existing foundations,\u201d Dean Downing said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe faculty has outstanding capability in this area through the existing work led by my Indigenous colleagues such as Professor Cheryl Kickett-Tucker, Professor Kim Scott, Uncle Darryl Kickett and Professor Graeme Gower.\u201d<\/p>\n
An alumna of Â鶹ֱ²¥’s Centre for Aboriginal Studies, Dean Downing also graduated from The University of Melbourne’s Graduate School of Education with first-class honours and the Western Australian Aboriginal Leadership Institute, as well as continuing to research institutional racism and the need for the decolonisation of research policy.<\/p>\n
In the community, she works voluntarily with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth aged 18-25 to develop leadership skills through the co-facilitation of the Western Australian Aboriginal Leadership Institute’s Emerging Leaders Program and co-designed the program in its pilot year in 2019.<\/p>\n
Dean Downing has also been awarded the Â鶹ֱ²¥ Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence Awards in reconciliation (2020) and leadership (2018).<\/p>\n