The ALIA Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Expert Group (ATSIEG) advises the ALIA Board on matters and engagement relating to Indigenous colleagues in the library and information sector in Australia, and seeks to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices from the sector and across Australia are better heard. The group was first formed for a temporary two-year term from March 2022 (read the ALIA media release here), bringing together LIS professionals based in different places and library and information sectors across Australia, with a wealth of knowledge, expertise and experience. In February 2025, ATSIEG became a permanent ALIA Group (read the news post here).
ALIA Board Director Karina Lamb acts as the group’s ALIA Board liaison. The group provided advice to the ALIA Board for an ongoing Indigenous Governance Framework for the Expert Group, which was endorsed in late 2024. The ALIA ATSIEG currently meets quarterly online or in person to pursue an implementation plan of work for 2025 supporting First Nations workers in the profession, following the Indigenous Governance Framework. Together, the ALIA Board and members of ATSIEG will seek ways to advance the recommendations in the National Survey on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment in Australian Libraries.
Members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Expert Group are actively involved in work to review and revive the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Library, Information and Resource Network as well as the ATSILIRN Protocols and supported work on the First Nations Collections Description Guidelines Project. Members of ATSIEG also provided crucial input into a number of ALIA's initiatives including the ALIA Skills, Knowledge and Ethics Framework for the LIS Workforce and the ALIA Code of Ethics for the Library and Information Services Workforce.
State National
Contact: [email protected] ALIA Board Representative Karina Lamb
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Advisor, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Collections and Services, University of Queensland
Lesley is a descendent of the Bidjara, Kairi tribes and Badugal people, Badu Island, Torres Strait Islands and she currently works with the University of Queensland Library as Manager, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services and Collections. She worked at the State Library of Queensland Indigenous Services for nine years where she supported the operation and establishment of a network of Indigenous Knowledge Centres across Queensland. Lesley was a leader and educator in the Culturally Safe Libraries program that was rolled out by National and State Libraries Australasia (NSLA), and has some thirty years’ experience working at different levels of government in a wide range of Indigenous affairs. Lesley's vision for the future is for the Libraries and Information Services sector to reform current industry practices to ensure their role as truth tellers of Australia's history is an integral one and a career choice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Director Indigenous Engagement, National Library of Australia
Rebecca is a Weilwan and Gamilaroi woman with family from Warren in North West NSW and connections to the Gunnedah region of NSW and Charleville in QLD.
She is the Director Indigenous Engagement at the National Library of Australia where the Indigenous Engagement Team at are working to transform the way in which the National Library engages with First Nations people to tell First Nations stories. Rebecca is privileged to have been entrusted with leading that change.
As a member of the NSLA First Nations Advisory Group and the ALIA Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Expert Advisory Group, Rebecca is privileged to work with other First Nations colleagues to bring cultural accountability and authority to the GLAM sector.
Rebecca is passionate about the rights of First Nations people to speak for their culture and have agency over the records that document it - she advocates for the restoration of cultural authority in all that she does.
Indigenous Knowledge Research Fellow, University of Melbourne and Milingimbi Community Library Officer
Jacinta is a Yolngu woman from the Dhamarrandji clan nation of Djambarrpuyngu language group from Milingimbi North East Arnhem Land. Jacinta has extensive experience in Indigenous advocacy and education, working on community and local history projects in Milingimbi, and teaching local, national, and international audiences about Yolngu identity, kinship and connections, and Yolngu sign language.
Jacinta is particularly passionate about cultural preservation, education, and fostering mutual respect among young people. Her work focuses on fostering strong, sustainable relationships with Indigenous communities, ensuring their voices are central to decision-making processes.
Senior Manager Indigenous Programs, Deakin University Library
I am a proud Yamaji Nyungar based in Naarm currently working as the Senior Manager Indigenous Programs at Deakin Library. My role at Deakin enables me to assist with matters related to Indigenous knowledges within the library and across the university. I am very privileged to be involved in assisting to embed Indigenous knowledges into course curricula, creating initiatives to increase cultural responsiveness for the Deakin community and working with Traditional Owner groups. I have previously worked at the State Library of Western Australia as a Project Coordinator and Indigenous Literacy Officer. In 2023 I authored the Guidelines for First Nations Collections Description for the Australian library sector as a joint project with ALIA, AIATSIS, CAVAL & CAUL. I am also a co-founder of the Australian Reparative Description Community of Practice.
I look forward to learning and collaborating with the Expert Advisory Group. I am passionate about the need to understand how Indigenous knowledges sits within library systems, and working on ways that provide equitable access, while respecting cultural protocols and Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property rights.
Image © Mauro Palmieri
Team Leader, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Data Archive (ATSIDA), University of Technology Sydney
I am a Wiradjuri man based in Sydney and currently work as a Digital Collections Librarian. I hold a Master of Digital Information Management from the University of Technology, Sydney. I have over 10 years’ experience working in the Library sector specialising in Digitisation and Digital Collections.
I’m excited to be on the Expert Advisory Group and be able to contribute to the conversation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander priorities in the library sector. I’m also excited about the ways libraries can repatriate our mob’s culture and language through digital collections and make libraries more welcoming for all people.
Manager, Indigenous Engagement Branch, State Library of New South Wales
Damien is a proud member of the Palawa Diaspora, originally from Tasmania. He has worked in state libraries for over 10 years, including roles in Western Australia and New South Wales. He previously coordinated the State Library of Western Australia’s Storylines Project and has worked with Aboriginal artists, traditional owners and researchers across Australia. Damien’s current role is Manager of the Indigenous Engagement Branch at the State Library of New South Wales, where he works with a team of Indigenous and non-Indigenous staff to implement new ways of bringing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices to library collections. Damien has a passion for decolonising archives and library collections and has extensive experience working with researchers to understand the legacies of white explorers from an Aboriginal context and return authority over heritage materials to Traditional Owners and Aboriginal families.
Senior Specialist, Indigenous Initiatives - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Data Archives (ATSIDA), University of Technology Sydney
Yanti is a descendant of the Angkamuthi, Yadhaykana, Woppaburra & Meriam Peoples, having grown up in Injinoo, Cape York. Yanti’s career in libraries began in 2016 as an Indigenous graduate at the National Library of Australia before finding her place in academic libraries. Yanti was a founding member of the ALIA Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Expert Advisory Group in 2022.
Yanti works in cross-unit collaboration to deliver high quality services, developing policies and data infrastructure with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Data Archive (ATSIDA) team. Prior to her new role, Yanti was the Indigenous Library Liaison Officer at James Cook University Library in Townsville. Creating inclusive libraries for First Nations peoples is Yanti’s passion, and something she was excited to bring to the table as a member of ALIA’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Expert Advisory Group. Yanti is currently leading the work to rejuvenate ATSILIRN.
Associate Professor, Jumbunna Research Institute, University of Technology Sydney
Kirsten Thorpe (Worimi, Port Stephens) leads the Indigenous Archives and Data Stewardship Hub, which advocates for Indigenous rights in archives and data and develops research and engagement in relation to refiguring libraries and archives to support the culturally appropriate ownership, management and ongoing preservation of Indigenous knowledges. Kirsten has broad interests in research and engagement with Indigenous protocols and decolonising practices in the library and archive fields, and the broader GLAM sector. Kirsten advocates for the 'right of reply' to records and capacity building and support for the development of Living Indigenous Archives on Country.
Kirsten has extensive experience working in major collecting institutions across public libraries and archives to support Indigenous engagement and priorities. Kirsten was previously the Manager, Indigenous Services at the State Library of NSW where she led the development of strategies supporting state-wide information services for Indigenous people. This included support for Indigenous priorities and cultural competency across NSW Public Libraries, the launch of the Library’s first Indigenous Collecting Strategy, and projects that supported the documentation, return and revitalisation of Indigenous Australian languages through archival sources. Kirsten is an invited member of the International Council on Archives Expert Group on Indigenous Matters and a co-founder of the Indigenous Archives Collective.
Kirsten was a founding member of the ALIA Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Expert Advisory Group in 2022.