Associate Professor Shawana Andrews

shawanaa@unimelb.edu.au
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Associate Professor Shawana Andrews is a Trawlwoolway Palawa woman. She is Director and Associate Professor of the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health and Associate Professor in the Department of Social Work, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences. She co-leads the Health and Justice Theme with Dr Eddie Cubillo.

Shawana has a long history working across Aboriginal communities in Victoria with over 20 years’ experience working in Aboriginal health. Beginning as an Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officer at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Shawana co-designed the Koori Mental Health Program and the Wadja Aboriginal Family Place acute care case management program, including a comprehensive Aboriginal child outpatient clinic. Shawana has since held policy, project management, and teaching roles across the health and higher education sectors. Shawana has led faculty and university-wide Aboriginal health teaching and learning initiatives, including Billibellary’s Walk .

At the Melbourne Poche Centre, she leads the Centre’s signature programs that focus on Aboriginal doctoral advancement and health leadership. International Indigenous partnerships and collaborations support this work. Shawana’s research areas include: Aboriginal graduate research candidate experiences and social capital, place and Aboriginal health leadership, Aboriginal mothering practices and family violence, Aboriginal feminisms and gendered knowledges, and cultural practice-based methodologies.