GUMBAYNGGIRR woman Dr Julie Ballangarry has been named a 2025 Churchill Fellow.
The Mid North Coast scholar and educator is committed to Reconciliation and said she was inspired by her first role model, Uncle Kevin “Porky” Ballangarry of Bowraville.
“[He was] a strong Aboriginal man, proud of who we are and where we come from,” she said.
“As a child, I watched him share our culture with non-Indigenous people to bridge gaps and build understanding.
“He wanted a better, shared future.
“I remember him coming to my school, speaking in my SOSE classes, telling the truth about our history, his experiences with government policies, and what it was like growing up in Australia from 1948 onwards.”
Dr Ballangarry said those moments shaped her.
She is now the Director of First Nations Strategy and Coordination at Charles Sturt University in Port Macquarie, with responsibility for working across the institution to drive culturally grounded, high-impact outcomes for staff, students, and communities.
The Churchill Trust was founded 60 years ago to honour British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.
CEO Christine Dacey said, “Our Fellows are everyday Australians with extraordinary ideas.”
“They have the passion and persistence to learn from the world’s best and bring home solutions that make a real difference in their communities.
“Churchill Fellows have the opportunity to travel the globe in search of solutions to pressing challenges at home.”
Dr Ballangarry’s work is underpinned by advancing Reconciliation through truthtelling, justice, and transformative partnerships.
Her fellowship project is titled, “To examine how Reconciliation is pursued by marginalised peoples despite political barriers”.
It is an investigation of how Indigenous and other marginalised peoples respond to political resistance or avoidance of Reconciliation, and how governments frame Reconciliation narratives to promote unity, often without addressing systemic injustice.
Dr Ballangarry will spend eight weeks with Bundjalung colleague Erin Lang, examining case studies in Canada, Aotearoa-New Zealand, South Africa, and Northern Ireland.
They will explore how communities reclaim Reconciliation as a process grounded in truth, justice, and genuine accountability.
“Working in the community sector and as a teacher, I saw how the impacts of colonisation were still felt every day,” Dr Ballangarry said.
“I also saw how easy it was for institutions to lean on symbolic gestures while avoiding the hard work of truthtelling or structural reform.
“That’s when I knew Reconciliation had to be more than words, it had to uphold Indigenous rights and change the systems that harm us.”
“For me, Reconciliation means every Australian understands our shared history, and governments lead by example, embedding Indigenous rights at the heart of our nation and its policies.”
Dr Ballangarry said she hoped the Churchill Fellowship would help her learn from other First Nations peoples and that their stories of success and struggle will help shape a movement in Australia that is courageous, community-led, grounded in truth, and full of hope for the future.
The Winston Churchill Trust encourages curious, determined people, ready to make a difference, to consider Fellowship applications when they open in February 2026.
By Andrew VIVIAN
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