I am an academic and a researcher within the School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education in the Faculty of Education at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). I am of Aboriginal heritage from Bindal and Birri clan groups of the Birrigubba nation and Torres Strait Islander heritage of Mauar, Stephen and Murray Islands. I have 30 years of experience in teaching and leadership roles in schools and universities.

I have extensive experience working within schools in Indigenous and low socioeconomic communities and schools to improve educational outcomes through school change and leadership. I have been successful in receiving thirteen externally funded research projects including projects funded by the Australian Research Council, Industry and Government. I research in the fields of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education, early childhood, inclusive education, Indigenous young people and incarcerated youth in detention centres.

I publish in a wide range of journals and books and my research produces non-traditional outputs aimed engaging and impacting on the communities where I research. My research work utilizes Indigenous knowledges and frameworks with theoretical frameworks to contest prevailing assumptions and stereotypes that contribute to the lack of success of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in schools and juvenile detention Centres.