Deb is a Wakka Wakka Warumungu woman with family ties to Cherbourg Queensland and Tennant Creek Northern Territory. She is the Director of Indigenous Health (Faculty of Health) and an Associate Professor in the School of Public Health and Social Work (Faculty of Health) . She was previously was the Senior Lecturer and Academic Advisor at QUT’s Oodgeroo Unit (Indigenous Student Support).

Deb co-developed, coordinates and lectures in QUT’s first Indigenous Knowledges Minor. The Indigenous Knowledges Minor consists of four units and covers topics such as Indigenous politics; Cultural safety; Representations of Indigenous peoples; and Indigenous research ethics and protocols. Deb has also lectured in the QUT School of Social Work and Human Services since 2002 in a range of social work and human services practice units and developed and coordinated two specific social work and human services units directly addressing Aboriginal and Torres Strait practice: The Socio-Cultural Context of Professional Practice unit (Masters of Social Work) and the Working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities unit (Undergraduate).

For the past 8 years, Deb has successfully coordinated the Cherbourg-QUT Project whereby transdisciplinary student teams collaborate with Industry partners on Aboriginal Community-initiated projects using a participatory action research framework. In a practice context, Deb has 10 years’ experience working in the domestic and family violence sector and with families experiencing homelessness. Deb completed her PhD – Reinvigorating the domestic violence sector: Systemically addressing power, conflict and practitioner turnover in the domestic violence sector – in 2012.

Deb has been awarded the QUT Vice Chancellors Excellence Award for the Cherbourg-QUT Project (2014), the Australian Award for University Teaching (2016), the David Gardener Teacher of the Year Award (2018) and the Australian Technology Network Learning and Teaching Excellence Award (2018) and Australian Award for University Teaching Award for Community Engagement (2019) for her work in teaching Indigenous Knowledges and Studies.

Research interests

• Cultural Safety in social work and human services practice
• Embedding Indigenous Knowledges in tertiary curriculum,
• Social issues impacting on Aboriginal self-determination
• Domestic and family violence.