First Nations Advisory Group
‘Honey ants and the rivers of hope to sharing knowledge’, 2018. Artwork by Emrhan Tjapanangka Sultan, 2018
We wish to extend our sincere gratitude to Orygen’s First Nations Advisory Group, who have been helping to guide Orygen since 2019.
Joyce Doyle (Clark-Morgan)
Joyce is a Yor
ta Yorta woman from Shepparton, Victoria and is a founding member of Orygen’s First Nations Advisory Group.
Throughout her working life, spanning over 40 years, Joyce has had a significant positive impact on the health and wellbeing of her community. Working in areas of health, education, leadership and cultural recognition. Her strengths lie in the support she provides her community, encouraging empowerment and self-determination , leading by example.
The strongest resource Joyce has relied on is the Rumbalara Football and Netball Club, which provides a core base for cultural identity and safety for the community. Joyce says this journey has been slow, and she has watched her community's youth suffer in silence and rely on family strengths and support. She feels there is a huge gap in resources available to support the young people and their social and emotional wellbeing via a strong cultural setting, such as Rumbalara Football and Netball Club.
Dale Rowland
Dale is a proud Biripi and Wiradjuri man from NSW who is completing a PhD in Clinical Psychology on Kombumerri Country (Gold Coast, QLD). He is also a founding member of Orygen’s First Nations Advisory Group.
Before starting his PhD, Dale spent six years working as a Learning Assistance Officer with the GUMURRII Student Success Unit at Griffith University. Dale has previously been an Associate Lecturer in the First Peoples Health Unit at Griffith University and remains a research assistant and sessional tutor in the School of Applied Psychology.
Dale holds student membership on the Australian Psychological Society - Indigenous Psychology Advisory Group and the Jilya Institute. Dale was the 2020 recipient of the Dr Tracy Westerman Aboriginal Psychology Scholarship Program and the Bendi Lango Bursary.
Dale is passionate about Indigenous education and mental health, particularly around best-practice, evidence-based service delivery when working with and for Indigenous communities. Dale has research experience in cultural safety training of university students, embedding Indigenous curriculum in health programs, and understanding mental health professionals’ uptake of digital mental health technologies. Upon completion of his PhD, Dale intends to work with communities to co-develop digital mental health interventions for the social and emotional wellbeing of the community.
Kanisha Wills
Kanisha is a young Wagadagum woman from Mabuiag Island in the Torres Strait, currently based on Kaurna land in South Australia.
She is the First Nations young person representative on the Advisory Group and is in her final year of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Adelaide.
Kanisha has been a First Nations Advisory Group member since 2024, and before this, she was an advocate for Seed Indigenous Youth Climate Network, helping to educate people on the impacts of climate change from an Indigenous perspective and also worked as a guest editor to help create a First Nations-themed edition of the University of Adelaide’s magazine, On Dit.
You can learn more about the role and responsibilities of the group by reading the First Nations of Australia Advisory Group Terms of Reference.