Professor Julie Andrews, Academic Director of Indigenous Research at La Trobe University, has been inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women as a Trailblazer in 2024.
Professor Andrews is the only Victorian-descended Aboriginal female professor in a Victorian University and has been considered a trailblazer by the Yorta Yorta community since she studied at La Trobe in the 1990s.
The first female Yorta Yorta Professor and a highly respected First Nations scholar, Professor Andrews' contribution to Indigenous higher education and research culminated with the establishment of the Gabra Biik Wurruwila Wutja Indigenous Research Centre at La Trobe University.
Professor Andrews has made a huge contribution to documenting Victorian Indigenous history, forging links with Indigenous communities and mentoring several Indigenous research students in their education and research journey. For the past 20 years Professor Andrews has taught thousands of students across La Trobe's campuses.
La Trobe Vice-Chancellor Professor Theo Farrell said Professor Andrews' trailblazing achievements in Indigenous education and research continue to have long-lasting impacts not only on La Trobe University but on Professor Andrews' family, the Yorta Yorta community, the wider Victorian Indigenous community and other Victorian universities.
"Professor Andrews is a role model for the entire community," Professor Farrell said.
"Her combined attributes of Aboriginality, Traditional Owner status, academic expertise, family networks and community connections have opened a door for meaningful partnerships across communities and paved the way for others to follow in her footsteps."
Professor Andrews is La Trobe University's most cited Aboriginal Studies researcher and has received more than $6 million in external funding.
Career highlights include:
- Responsible for the development of an Indigenous academic framework for La Trobe University which has led to the development of a unique First Nations curriculum.
- In 2012, developed the first subject at La Trobe with completely First Nations content and delivered by First Nations lecturers, which continues to be taught today.
- Created the first On Country immersion subject for a Victorian university (Encountering Aboriginal Victoria - Parallel Systems of Knowledge). This is the first of its kind in Victoria and a unique immersion program within the local Aboriginal community at Shepparton and the Barmah Forest Area.
- Founded and is currently leading, La Trobe's first Indigenous Research Centre called Gabra Biik, Wurruwila Wutja (Clever Country, Clever People) developed as part of La Trobe's Indigenous Research Strategy 2022-2030.
