Ngangk Yira Institute for Change

Wongi mi bardup - doing it our way. Together, we have the solutions.

A strong start for healthy and resilient Aboriginal people and communities

Ngangk Yira works closely with the WA government, contributing high level expertise to projects and initiatives which seek to ensure Aboriginal families and communities have access to culturally safe maternity care.

Meet Professor Rhonda Marriott

Pro Vice Chancellor of Ngangk Yira Institute for Change and Professor in Aboriginal Health, Professor Rhonda Marriott leads a multidisciplinary team and a range of research projects addressing Aboriginal peoples’ questions of research priority. Her personal mantra is “nothing about us without us”.

With a national and international reputation for excellence in Aboriginal research, Rhonda uses her knowledge, expertise and phenomenal professional networks to advocate for the changes needed in health, child protection, education and environmental policies and the systems which operationalise these.

Born in Derby, Western Australia, Rhonda is descended from the Kimberley Nyikina people through her mother. She is a registered nurse and midwife and became the inaugural Head of the School of Nursing at Murdoch University in 2003; becoming the first Indigenous head of a university School of Nursing in Australia.

Rhonda has been the recipient of many awards, including induction into the WA Women’s Hall of Fame in 2019, membership of the Order of Australia in 2020, and receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2021 WA Nursing and Midwifery Awards. In 2025, Rhonda was appointed the newest CATSINaM Patron and was named joint winner of the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Scientist of the Year in the Premier's Science Awards.