Professor Colleen Hayward AM

Professor Colleen Hayward AM is a former Ambassador for the Commissioner for Children and Young People. She is a senior Noongar woman with extensive family links throughout the South West of WA.

She is currently the Head of Kurongkurl Katitjin, Edith Cowan University’s Centre for Indigenous Education and Research, a position she concurrently holds with being Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Equity and Indigenous, across the University.

For more than 30 years, Professor Hayward has worked to influence policies and programs on a wide range of issues, reflecting the needs of minority groups at community, state and national levels.

With an extensive background in the areas of health, education, employment, training, housing, child protection and law and justice, Professor Hayward is highly regarded for her long-standing work for and on behalf of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia.

Among her many achievements, Professor Hayward has been awarded the 2008 National NAIDOC Aboriginal Person of the Year Award, the Premier of WA’s prestigious Multicultural Ambassador’s Award (2006) and she is an inductee into the WA Department of Education’s Hall of Fame for Achievement in Aboriginal Education (2009).

In 2012, Professor Hayward was inducted into the Western Australian Women’s Hall of Fame as well being appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for service to tertiary education through administrative and research roles, and for service to the advancement of the rights of Indigenous people, particularly in the areas of social welfare, law and justice and children's health.

In 2016, Professor Hayward was a WA finalist for the Australian of the Year award.