Council members
Darwin
Mark Motlop
Inaugural Chairperson
Mark is of Larrakia and Torres Strait Islander descent and was born and raised in Darwin. He started his schooling at Nightcliff Primary School and completed his junior high school years at Nightcliff High School and Year 11 at Darwin High School in 1975.
He was first employed at the Department of Health as a yardman before pursuing a AFL career in Adelaide and Perth.
Since 1989, he has been involved in junior and senior level football in the NTFL and also coached at the elite level in Australian Rules. He worked in the public sector for several years before resigning to work as Kickstart Manager with the AFLNT and then with the YMCA’s Juvenile Justice Diversionary Program.
While working for the Department of Business, Economic and Regional Development, Mark completed a Diploma of Business at Charles Darwin University.
Mark’s aim is for the Council to provide positive advice to break down the barriers to encourage Indigenous students to reach the required benchmarks of national literacy and numeracy standards and to improve the attendance levels of Indigenous students at school.
Simone Liddy
Simone was born in Darwin and is currently completing a Bachelor of Pharmacy.
When she completes her degree, she would like to remain in Darwin and help to improve the health and wellbeing of Indigenous people throughout the Northern Territory.
Simone believes that being a member of the NTIEC will give her the opportunity to grow and learn from other experienced Indigenous leaders from various fields. She brings to the table a student’s perspective. She hopes to encourage more Indigenous students to take up professional roles.
Gary Fry
Gary was born and raised in Darwin and his Indigenous background is Jawoyn. Football figured strongly in his school days and, when he left school, he decided to become an electrician and later attended university and gained his teaching degree.
He has taught in remote schools for 10 years and is now an Assistant Principal at Wagaman Primary School.
Gary’s aim is to contribute to the NTIEC by supporting Indigenous people to break down barriers and make some real sustainable improvements for Indigenous students and their families in the field of education.
Pauline Schober
Pauline was born, raised and has lived all her life in Darwin. Her mother is from the Torres Strait Islands and her father is a Yingjibarndi man from Western Australia. She is married with four children of whom she is very proud.
Education was not a priority in her formative years and she left school at 15. In her late 20s, she completed a Certificate in Small Business. She continued with her education, completing a Diploma in Frontline Management and then a business degree in 2006. She has since undertaken a graduate diploma in education.
Pauline feels privileged to be a part of the NTIEC and hopes to contribute positively to the development of strategies to improve Indigenous experiences in education as well as influencing the development of strategies to achieve this goal.
Patrick Anderson
Patrick is an Aboriginal man with family ties in the Gulf of Carpentaria (Queensland) on his mother’s side. He comes from Katherine and has spent most of his working life in the Katherine region, linking closely with Aboriginal communities such as Kalkaringi (Wave Hill) in the early 80s and Nauiyu (Daly River community) in the early 90s. He now interacts with numerous Aboriginal communities throughout the NT since being employed with Batchelor Institute for 14 years.
Patrick is a member of the Australian College of Educators. He is currently establishing the Top End Education and Training Network group on behalf of Batchelor Institute, which will meet in Darwin several times a year to exchange information about Indigenous education and training matters and to discuss strategies to overcome Indigenous disadvantage.
He currently holds a trade certificate - Plumbing & Draining, Bachelor degree in Community Management & Development, Graduate Diploma in Educational Management and a Masters degree in Education.
He was recently appointed to the NTIEC as the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education Top End Senior Advisor - Community Engagement.
He hopes to contribute to the NTIEC by sharing his knowledge and experience with other members to enhance the educational levels and lives of Indigenous people across the Territory.
Catherine Anstess
Cathy Anstess’s Indigenous heritage is from Darnley Island in the Torres Strait Islands. She was born in Darwin and is studying a Bachelor of Teaching and Learning/Bachelor of Arts double degree at Charles Darwin University.
Cathy is excited about being part of the Indigenous Education Council, because she is passionate about the education of Indigenous Australians. She has had recent experience of the education system as a student, and works at Sanderson High School as an ITAS tutor.
Through her work there, she has worked with Indigenous students from urban and remote communities. This has given her a sense of how urgent the need is for schools to be able to cater to and for the next generation of Indigenous young people.
Katherine
Ian Woods
Ian is vice president of the Wuliwulijand Health Service in Katherine.
He believes the lack of education, health and housing are the main issues that affect Aboriginal people today. His aim as a member of the NTIEC is to improve healthy living lifestyles among Indigenous peoples.
Alice Springs
Donna McMasters
Donna was born and lived most of her life in Alice Springs and is currently employed as a Project Officer with DET.
Since an early age, Donna was taught the importance of education and the need to expand her skills level to enable her to walk and talk in both Indigenous and western societies.
Donna hopes to ensure action rather than talking. She believes Indigenous people need to actively participate in every aspect of Indigenous education, policy development and service delivery to achieve real outcomes that are required for the future of our children, families and communities.
Desmond Rogers
Desmond (Des) has been heavily involved in Indigenous education through various committees for many years and is a former Deputy Chairman of the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education.
Des was born in Alice Springs of Afghan and Aboriginal descent. He is acknowledged as a southern Arrernte man and belongs to the pertame (purdarm) clan.
He has been in private enterprise for the past 14 years and has personally employed and trained many Indigenous workers. Des is a great advocate for Indigenous education employment and training. He strongly believes that you must be ‘at the table’ to participate in bringing about positive change.
Arnhem
Jocelyn Uibo
Jocelyn completed her high school education in 1997 and has since obtained her Certificate II in Business and Certificate IV in Business Management.
She has worked in the Numbulwar community for several years, serving on the Council, as well as working in health, finance and the construction industry in various locations throughout the Territory. At present she is the Registrar at Numbulwar CEC, where her responsibilities include finance management, enrolment of students and office reception.
Jocelyn’s hope as an NTIEC Council member is to have a strong voice for all Indigenous people across the Arnhem region.
Tennant Creek
Roderick Wason
Roderick was born at Mareeba in north Queensland and relocated to Tennant Creek in 1996 where he commenced work in 2000 as a teacher’s assistant with the Tennant Creek High School. He worked with the Indigenous ‘fellas’ catch up group and provided guidance, mentoring and tutoring to 12 to 16 year olds.
As Chairperson of the Papulu Apparr-Kari Language Centre, he endeavours to maintain language skills and language revival programs.
Roderick’s aspirations as a member of the NTIEC are to encourage pathway options and develop appropriate training for Indigenous students.
Daly River
Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann AM
Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann AM (Miriam) is a senior Indigenous woman from the Nauiyu Community on the Daly River, Northern Territory.
In 1968 Miriam studied to become a teacher’s aide and started at the St Francis Xavier mission school at Daly River, where she had been Principal from 1993 to her retirement in 2007. She became the Northern Territory’s first fully qualified Indigenous teacher and for many years was the Northern Territory’s Education Department's art consultant.
In 1998, Miriam was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for her services to the community of Nauiyu as a member of the community council.
Miriam has served as a Federal Government appointee to several high-level bodies in Indigenous Affairs; as a member of the Territory Emergency Response Task Force, as Chairperson of the Aboriginals Benefit Account Advisory Committee, and as a member of the National Indigenous Council.
In her retirement from full-time work in schools, Miriam remains deeply and actively engaged through her consulting on Indigenous Education issues in the Territory.
Ex-Officio members
- State Manager, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
- Chief Executive, Department of Education and Training
- Executive Director, Catholic Education Office
- Executive Director, Independent Schools