Archived News

Uncle Darryl Wright is a Dunghutti man from the Macleay Region, Kempsey, in Northern NSW. For the past nine years, Uncle Darryl has been the the Chief Executive Officer at Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation. Uncle Darryl has used his extensive management skills to build the Tharawal Aboriginal Medical Service into a thriving and effective community asset. He is also recognised for his role as a negotiator who can find solutions enabling the Police and Aboriginal communities to work together. Additionally, Uncle Darryl is an Aboriginal Elder on Campus and Community Elder.  

The Elders on Campus group comprises highly respected community Elders who make themselves available to advise and guide students in the context of employment. They provide leadership, mentoring, cultural workplace relations, Board and Committee participation, and operate in an advisory capacity with the potential to develop projects associated with ongoing research and teaching.

Uncle Greg Simms is well known as an activist for reconciliation, a traditional woodcarver, a storyteller and an educator of Aboriginal culture. Uncle Greg's ties to the Aboriginal community of Greater Western Sydney are through his ancestral links to the Gundungurra (waterdragon lizard people) of the Blue Mountains and the Gadigal (whale people) of the Darug nation. Growing up in La Perouse and now a resident of the Greater Western Sydney Region, Uncle Greg is a Community Liaison Officer with Ability Options, which provides employment services specifically to Aboriginal people with a disability or health condition.

Additionally, Uncle Greg is an Aboriginal Elder on Campus, Community Elder and Gadigal Elder. The Elders on Campus group comprises highly respected community Elders who make themselves available to advise and guide students in the context of employment. They provide leadership, mentoring, cultural workplace relations, Board and Committee participation and operate in an advisory capacity with the potential to develop projects associated with ongoing research and teaching. 

Uncle Greg has provided his knowledge and wisdom to UWS initiatives targeting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander school students, such as the UWS Heartbeat Program, Rural Indigenous Student Visit and Pathways to Dreaming Program. Uncle Greg provides cultural support and understanding to young people and instils a positive image of education to future generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

Aunty Zona Wilkinson is a Kamilaroi artist from North Western NSW whose art has featured in collections at the Powerhouse Museum, Penrith Regional Gallery, Blacktown Arts Centre and Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre. Aunty Zona has worked in the industry as an artist, art teacher and curator.

She is a highly respected cultural educator and visual artist working in textile, ceramic, mosaic, sculpture, painting, mural and printmaking, in addition to being a founding member of the Blacktown Arts Centre. Additionally, Aunty Zona is an Aboriginal Elder on Campus, Community Elder and Kamilaroi Elder, Penrith Regional Gallery and the Lewers Bequest.