Dr. Richard Fejo is a Larrakia man from Darwin from his father, his grandfather and his great grandfather in what culture calls “Grandfather lore”. He is also Warumungu from Tennant Creek on his mother’s side and holds a great amount of cultural knowledge and experiences from both northern and central Australia across the Northern Territory. Richie started working as a Cultural Educator with Northern Territory General Practice Education for eleven years resigning from cultural education in 2020 to become the Flinders University Elder on Campus in Darwin. From 2018Richie became the Chairman of the Larrakia Nation Aboriginal Corporation (LNAC) until November 2021. In November2020 Richie became the Chairman of the Darwin Waterfront Corporation and also has had previous roles with City of Darwin International Relations Committee from 2020 to 2022 standing down to become the current chairman of the Australia Day Council.

For more than 30 years, Optometrist Helen Summers OAM has been providing vision care to many Top End communities, and helping to prevent blindness through education and employment. Helen also lectures and volunteers in not-for-profit and charities for people with vision loss and learning and neuro-developmental delays. Helen is an advocate for the goals of Vision 2020 and Close the Gap for Vision – to reduce preventable blindness and provide vision services to regional and remote Australia. As well as active involvement in vision-related national and internal organisations, Helen has served as a non-executive director and committee member on Australian boards across health, social, indigenous and sporting sectors. Helen’s passion for life has also seen her join a team to complete a 64 km group trek on the Sunshine Coast, raising money for charity. She inspires many with her motivation, commitment and dynamic personality.

Professor Vermuri has over 50 years of experience engaging with diverse cultures through his education, lived experience, and professional work. He studied in India, Beirut, Western Australia, and the United Kingdom, and first came to Australia in the 1970s to complete his Matriculation. Since then, he has witnessed and contributed to the evolution of Australian multiculturalism.

In the 70s, he was known as Ram among classmates and their families, at a time when cultural diversity was not yet part of everyday Australian life. His career has been shaped by a humanist approach and a deep understanding of cultural complexity. He has worked across several international academic institutions including the University of Birmingham (UK), Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay), Yarmouk University (Jordan), and held key academic roles at Monash University and Charles Darwin University. His work consistently focused on policy-relevant research and inclusive teaching.

Having lived in Darwin for over 30 years, Professor Vermuri has actively promoted multicultural life in the Northern Territory. His work spans inclusion, diversity, citizenship, gender equality, national and territory discourse, and policy development. He is known for bridging academic insight with real-world policy needs.

He currently chairs the Ministerial Advisory Board of the Office of Senior Territorians and serves on several senior community boards. He is also recognised for his contributions to mental health care and behavioural research. From 2020 to 2022, he served as Chair of the Ministerial Advisory Council on Multicultural Affairs, continuing his strong advocacy for inclusion and equity

Moana Aroha Murch (nee Renae McGarvie APM) was born in New Zealand and is indigenous to her land, Aotearoa. Her name means Ocean Love in Te Reo Maori.

Moana has a passion and zest for life, working and volunteering at the community level across the Northern Territory since she was a teenager and continues her service strong today.

Moana grew up in Darwin and served across the Northern Territory as a police officer for 24 years before embarking on a life redirection, resetting her priorities and approach to family and healthy living.

Moana now has her own consulting service, Moana True North Consulting that she just started in 2024.

Moana proudly volunteers her time supporting community members on a variety of levels as well as coaching and managing local sporting teams that her daughter is involved with.

Moana is honoured to be involved with the Australia Day Council NT, recognising people that volunteer their time and dedicate their lives and professional careers for their community and future generations.

I am an accomplished explorer, a caring and compassionate person who has always been interested in social work and have strong desire to help people. I grew up in Kathmandu, Nepal where people from different cultures come to achieve their ambitions and this gave me the perfect cultural blend and inspired me to continue volunteering our community, to celebrate and recognise the diversity. I graduated with Master in English literature. I am a proud mother of 2 wonderful children and a caring wife to a loving husband. I came to Australia in 2009. With more than 13 years of work experience as a Sr. Educator, I feel proud and fortunate to involve as an active community member and serve Nepalese community as an instructor for Nepalese language and culture at Palmerston since 2017 and promote the young Nepalese kids to get involve in Nepali language and culture. I was awarded the Citizen of the Year Award 2023 for my selfless and phenomenal leadership volunteer work with the Nepalese Association, NT. I also have passion towards fashion designing and traded many designs out of my portfolio. I hold Diploma in Fashion Designing and CAD.

Robert has had a 37 year career in banking, the last 21 years have been in Darwin. In servicing the business community ha has gained inspiration from the people who call the NT home. He is passionate about what makes Australia great and has volunteered for several community groups. Robert has served on the boards of the Charles Darwin University Foundation Australia Institution of Management & the Property Council NT Division. Robert is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

As the current State Director of the Red Cross Society in NT, Bill brings a wealth of experience to the board. He has owned two companies focused on Indigenous community development, worked as a Senior Business Manager at Jobfind in Katherine NT, and held a Regional Training Coordinator role with the Department of Business for 9 years. Additionally, Bill managed the Katherine Regional Tourism Association for 5 years. Bill has 16 years of leadership experience on various boards and bodies, and is skilled in engaging with Indigenous Australians and multicultural communities. Bill’s expertise spans the Northern Territory and Northern Australia, especially in the pastoral sector, including training, government relations, business, agriculture, and cattle management.

In 1980, Robyne Burridge moved to the Northern Territory for 18 months to help plan its International Year of People with a Disability. Fast forward to 2021 and she is still living in the Territory – advocating for greater equality, accessibility and quality of life for all. Robyne is a founding member of Integrated DisAbility Action, and a member of the community council on the Northern Territory Primary Health Network. She served 20 years as an alderman with the Darwin City Council, including one year as deputy Lord Mayor. In 2012, Robyne established Focus-A-Bility to provide advocacy, case management and information to individuals with disability. Robyne is highly regarded as a leader, advocate and activist in the disability sector. Her lived experience of cerebral palsy and expertise in disability advocacy has seen her mentor many executives in the sector. The recipient of many awards, in 2019, Robyne received an Order of Australia Medal for service to people with a disability.

Born and bred in the Territory, Malia strives towards empowering the Territories Youth. Set to complete her Master’s in Occupational Therapy at the end of 2022, she hopes to improve the lives of many Territorians through empowerment and inclusive practice and uses her own experiences of disadvantage to reduce stigma around homelessness and childhood abuse. She is an alumnus of the Youth Round Table 2016, has previous experience as an executive member of the Young Professionals Network Committee, founding Vice Chair of Two Two One Mental Health Charity and founding President of CDU student club Allied Health Collective. She can often be found around the community volunteering at various events and is a current Nightcliff Lions Club member as well as a current member of the Volunteering NT committee.

Annie is an award-winning media and communications professional with experience across print, digital, social and radio broadcast, as well as photography and videography. Annie is the NT Correspondent at Australian Community Media and also writes for her hometown newspaper, the Katherine Times. Annie loves telling people's stories, and is passionate about giving those a voice who may otherwise remain unheard. When Annie isn't  busy putting pen to paper, she spends time in her garden, goes bushwalking or travels across the Northern Territory, Australia or the world. In her spare time Annie writes, illustrates and publishes books.