186. Mayrah Yarraga Dreise - 29 September 2024

Australian Women Preach

Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

Dr Mayrah Yarraga Dreise says... I am a proud Yuwalaraay and Gamilaraay Woman from Southwest Queensland Northwest New South Wales. I speak and teach our languages in our community and lead local dance (yulagi) ceremonies. I am also a visual artist considering Australian History, stolen generations, intergenerational trauma and the impact of colonisation on First Nations peoples in the forms of both painting and public art installation.

I have been in Education for over 40 years with much of my work focused on Indigenous Education. I was a classroom teacher for 25 years as a history, Visual and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies secondary subjects, and a principal in two schools for 10 years. I have also been the Indigenous education project officer for the then Queensland Studies Authority, Senior Lecturer in Indigenous education at the Queensland University of Technology and at Charles Sturt University. Prior to my current role I was the Associate Professor for Indigenous Education at the Australian Catholic University.

In my current role I work across Brisbane Catholic Education offices and 146 schools to improve outcomes in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education. Some key focuses of this work include: Professional Development of Teachers, School Leaders and officer staff in cultural safety and First Nations Curriculum and Education, implementing ACARA Version 9 with First Nations content for all BCE students, engaging with First Nations communities and parents, offering a variety of cultural workshops to students across different sectors at the Ngutana-Lui BCE Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural studies centre at Inala and contributing to the development of BCE policies, strategies and programs.