Professor Diane Kerr OAM

Professor Diane Kerr OAM is a respected Elder of the Wurundjeri people and identifies with the Ganun Willam Balak clan.

Aunty Di works passionately on the social and emotional wellbeing of First Nations communities through her engagement with community and government in a range of fields: health, childcare, education, native title, Stolen Generation support, environment and waterway protection, and other community work.

Aunty Di provides leadership and cultural advice to local councils and corporate and community organisations. She is often invited to preside at high profile Welcome to Country ceremonies, and she conducts Women’s ceremonies for Aboriginal girls and women.

Aunty Di is one of the most senior and well-respected Kulin nations Elders and holds uniquely rare and exceptional knowledge of the Melbourne regions on which main campuses of this University are built.

She holds a long and exclusive relationship with the University of Melbourne that hinges on her long-term research collaborations with colleagues in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences and her extensive networks across the Victorian medical establishment and health sector.

Aunty Di’s appointment as a Fellow through this scheme will bring urgently needed understanding through her project on the impacts of Indigenous medicine and healing knowledge on infection management and antibiotic use. Indigenous peoples everywhere suffer disproportionately high rates of antimicrobial resistance, which is one of the greatest and most complex threats presently facing humanity.

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