Reconciliation Australia welcomes two new co-chairs to its board of directors following the retirement of Professor Tom Calma AO and Ms Melinda Cilento.
The new co-chairs are long-standing director Ms Kirstie Parker and the newly-appointed director, Mr Michael Rose AM.
Professor Calma and Ms Cilento have been leading the board since 2011.
The new co-chairs expressed their deep gratitude to Professor Calma and Ms Cilento.
‘Both Tom and Melinda have provided inspired and thoughtful leadership and guidance to the organisation for more than a decade,’ said Kirstie Parker.
‘Their contribution to reconciliation and Australian public life has been immense, and I have no doubt that their passionate advocacy for First Nations justice and reconciliation will continue.’
Ms Parker said she was honoured to step into the co-chair role and looked forward to working alongside Michael Rose.
‘Whilst as a nation we have stumbled in recent times and lost some ground, I’m eternally buoyed by the dignity, courage and tenacity of First Nations people as well as many non-Indigenous Australians of the same character,’ she said.
‘Enduring reconciliation will be achieved not through the comments section of tabloid newspapers or on talkback radio airwaves but through the steady advancement of First Nations self-determination underpinned by a groundswell of genuine, thoughtful actions – small and big – by good people with open hearts.
‘Through these, we will see the best of this nation.’
Michael Rose said, ‘Through their leadership and guidance, Tom and Melinda have positioned Reconciliation Australia well to continue its important work, work that matters now more than ever.
‘I am looking forward to working with Kirstie, our board colleagues and the management team, taking this work forward.’
The Board also farewelled director Kenny Bedford, a Meuram man from Erub in Zenadth Kes (Torres Strait Islands), who the new co-chairs thanked for his unwavering commitment to reconciliation and generosity in sharing his unique perspectives from remote Australia.
The new co-chairs bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to their leadership of Reconciliation Australia.
Kirstie Parker is a Yuwaalaraay woman from northwest NSW and has been a director of Reconciliation Australia since 2010. Her leadership in community, not-for-profit and government settings spans First Nations rights, representation and advocacy, policy development, journalism and communications, and the arts. Now an independent consultant, Kirstie was previously Strategic Adviser to the Uluru Dialogue, Director – Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation within SA Government, CEO of the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence, elected Co-Chair of the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples, and editor of the Koori Mail newspaper.
Michael Rose is an experienced director who serves on a number of commercial, government and not for profit boards. He has been actively engaged in policy issues involving Indigenous communities and Indigenous rights, employment, and education. He has worked closely with Reconciliation Australia over the years, including in relation to the Recognise campaign. He was a member of the Referendum Council on Constitutional Recognition and in 2016 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for services to Indigenous communities and the legal profession.
