Catherine Liddle is an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia 50,000 to 65,000 year ...

executive, journalist, and advocate of

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

' health. she is CEO of SNAICC – National Voice for our Children, and member of the Coalition of Peaks.

Early life and education

Catherine Liddle is of Arrernte and

Luritja The Luritja or Loritja people, also known as Kukatja or Kukatja-Luritja, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory. Their traditional lands are immediately west of the Derwent River, that forms a frontier with the Arrernte p ...

heritage (from

Central Australia Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and ...

). She has said that "Aunty Pat" ( Pat Turner) was the reason that her mother went to university in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

Career

Liddle's primary occupation has been as a journalist, but she has occupied many managerial roles. She worked in a number of roles at

Imparja Television Imparja Television (IMP) is an independent Australian television station servicing over , across six states and territories: Northern Territory, South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania. It is based in Alice Spri ...

, the ABC, SBS, and

NITV National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the six-day-a-week ''NITV News Updat ...

, including executive editor of news and current affairs. She also worked in managerial positions at the NT Department of Education. In 2019, while NPY Regional Director of Jawun (formerly Jawun Indigenous Corporate Partnerships) in

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

, Liddle acted as interim general manager of

Indigenous Community Television Indigenous Community Television (ICTV) is an Australian free-to-view digital television channel on the Viewer Access Satellite Television service. It broadcasts television programs produced by, and for, Indigenous Australians in remote communi ...

for five months. She was appointed CEO of

First Nations Media Australia First Nations Media Australia (FNMA), formerly Indigenous Remote Communications Association (IRCA), is the national peak body for Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander not-for-profit broadcasting, media and communications. History The ...

from October 2019. She has also had experience in working with the Coalition of Peaks, which liaises with governments on achieving the targets of the national

Closing the Gap The Closing the Gap framework is a strategy by the Commonwealth and state and territory governments of Australia that aims to reduce disparity between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians on key health, ...

strategy. She stood in for Pat Turner, along with Scott Wilson, in leading the Joint Council on Closing the Gap in her absence, as acting lead convenor of the Coalition of Peaks in early 2024. She was appointed CEO of SNAICC – National Voice for Our Children, the national peak body for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

children, commencing 8 February 2021, and is still in the position. She said upon the appointment:

Other activities

In 2020, Liddle was one of the senior journalists on the judging panel for the

Walkley Awards The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic and online media. The Gold Walkley is the highest prize and ...

. In August 2021, she was appointed to the board of Girls from Oz (G-Oz), which aims "to improve educational and employment outcomes for girls and young women in remote parts of Australia" through delivering

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

programs to female school students of all ages, and awarding successful applicants travel programs to capital cities, where they are offered further opportunities. In 2022 Liddle was appointed to the board of the Menzies Foundation. In April 2023, Liddle was a keynote speaker at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health's inaugural Gathering the Seeds Symposium in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. In May of that year, she participated in an event ahead of the referendum about the

Indigenous Voice to Parliament The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, also known as the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, the First Nations Voice or simply the Voice, was a proposed Australian federal advisory body to comprise Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal a ...

, entitled "Conversations about the Voice", hosted by the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies at the

Melbourne Law School Melbourne Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of the University of Melbourne. Located in Carlton, Victoria, Melbourne Law School is Australia's oldest law school, and offers Juris Doctor, J.D., Master of Laws, LL.M, Doctor of P ...

, along with Monique Ryan, Terry Moran, and former clerk of the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives. The powers, role and composition of the Senate are set out in Chap ...

Rosemary Laing. In July 2023, she delivered the Renate Kamener Oration at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

's Ormond College. This event raises funds for the Renate Kamener Indigenous Scholarship at the university. In December 2023, she was a keynote speaker at the 12th OMEP Asia-Pacific Conference at

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a Public university, public research university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the Sydney metropolitan area. ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. She is a member of the

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

Indigenous Advisory Council, an advisory body to the university on Indigenous matters. She has been interviewed on radio regarding Indigenous education and childcare.

Footnotes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Liddle, Catherine Australian women journalists Indigenous Australian women Indigenous Australian writers Living people Arrernte people Luritja people Australian indigenous rights activists Date of birth missing (living people)