Priscilla "Cilla" Atkins, (formerly ''Collins'') is a prominent Aboriginal leader, advocate and television producer. Atkins was the Chief Executive Officer of the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA), the largest law firm in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

of Australia.

Early life

Priscilla Atkins, formerly Priscilla Collins and known as "Cilla", is 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 ...

woman of

Arabana The Arabana, also known as the Ngarabana, are an Aboriginal Australian people of South Australia. Name The older tribal autonym was Ngarabana, which may have been misheard by white settlers as Arabana, the term now is generally accepted by ne ...

descent in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

and grew up 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 ...

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 ...

, the eldest of five children and is a descendant of Topsy Smith () the daughter of Mary Kemp (Arabana) and George White, a Policeman. Topsy Smith was the mother to daughter Ada Mary Wade.

Career

Atkins is an outspoken advocate on issues affecting Aboriginal people across the Northern Territory, including the overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in prison, overcrowding and homelessness and problems in the Northern Territory Government’s mismanagement of remote public housing. Atkins was the Chief Executive Officer of the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA), an Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander Torres Strait Islanders ( ) are the Indigenous Melanesians, Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal peoples of the res ...

legal service, which is also the largest law firm in the Northern Territory. Atkins was awarded the

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets related products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 stock index, and is Australia's largest telecomm ...

Business Woman’s Award for Community and Government in 2011. She is a non-member director of the Danila Dilba Health Service. She was previously the Chief Executive Officer of the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA), Australia’s largest Aboriginal media organisation. Atkins was heavily involved of the establishment of

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 ...

, Australia’s first Indigenous television station. She has been on the Boards of Indigenous Business Australia,

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 ...

, National Indigenous Television Service and Indigenous Screen Australia,

MusicNT MusicNT is a non-profit organisation devoted to developing, representing and servicing original music in the Northern Territory of Australia. The organisation, formed in 1996, serves a support network for musicians in the Northern Territory who ar ...

and Chairperson of the

Australian Indigenous Communications Association The Australian Indigenous Communications Association (AICA) is the peak body for Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander broadcasters. It is the successor to the National Indigenous Media Association of Australia (NIMAA). History AIC ...

. Atkins has produced television documentaries for SBS and

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

. When her children commented that her documentaries were 'boring' she decided to make a children's television show. She was the executive producer and creator of '' Double Trouble'', the first Indigenous children’s television series produced for a commercial network, Channel Nine and

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

. ''Double Trouble'' was nominated for an Australian Film Institute Award in 2008 for Best Children’s Drama.

Personal life

Atkins has ten children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atkins, Priscilla Living people People from the Northern Territory Australian indigenous rights activists Australian women human rights activists Year of birth missing (living people)