Neville George Perkins OAM, (born 4 January 1952), is a former

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

politician and public servant.

Early life

Perkins is the grandson of

Hetty Perkins Hetty Perkins ( – 8 December 1979) was an elder of the Arrernte people, Eastern Arrernte people, an Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal group from Central Australia. Several of her descendants have had prominent careers in various fields, both ...

, an

Eastern Arrernte Arrernte or Aranda (; ), or sometimes referred to as Upper Arrernte (Upper Aranda), is a dialect cluster in the Arandic language group spoken in parts of the Northern Territory, Australia, by the Arrernte people. Other spelling variations are ...

elder, and a nephew of Charlie Perkins. He is a descendant of both the Eastern and Central Arrernte peoples, and was born in Mbantua,

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 ...

. He attended

Newington College Newington College is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Single-sex education, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primar ...

(1963–1969), commencing in the preparatory school, Wyvern House. He is a graduate of the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

Career

Perkins was a Labor Party member of the

Northern Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory (also known as the Parliament of the Northern Territory) is the unicameral legislature of Australia’s Northern Territory. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, each elected in single-member ...

from 1977 to 1981, representing the electorate of MacDonnell. He was the first

Indigenous Australian 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 ...

to hold a shadow ministry in an Australian parliament, and subsequently became the party's deputy leader. Perkins resigned in 1981, not long into his second term. He later served as Secretary of the New South Wales Department of Aboriginal Affairs from 1987 to 1988. In 1973 he founded and was the first general secretary of the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress (CAAC). Around the same time, he and a group of others set up the Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service (CAALAS; later amalgamated with other services to form the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency). He was also the first Aboriginal general manager of

Aboriginal Hostels Limited Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), the oldest inhabitants of central Italy in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of sev ...

, and the first Aboriginal general manager of Imparja Television Pty Ltd. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management. Following Imparja, he was director of the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

' Aboriginal Education Program. He has since worked at

National Indigenous Television 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 ...

(NITV).

Honours

* Medal of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(OAM) for service to Aboriginal welfare, 26 January 1984.It's an Honour
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References

1952 births Australian Labor Party members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Indigenous Australian politicians Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly People educated at Newington College Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Living people Fellows of the Australian Institute of Management University of Sydney alumni {{Australia-Labor-NorthernTerritory-MLA-stub