Dr Cass Hunter is a descendent of Kuku Yalanji and Maluiligal nations in Far North Queensland. She has extensive experiences working at the science–economic–institutional interface for strengthening Indigenous leaders, senior managers and advisors in coming together to design and deliver goals that break new ground.
She is an Indigenous systems researcher based in Cairns and for over 20 years she has led significant bodies of work including the transitioning efforts from transactional to transformative partnerships between First Nations and Blue Economy Industries. Her research experiences involve leadership in the areas of Indigenous Coastal Livelihoods, co-design, knowledge translation and best-practice design. Her focus is on building our national and international networks of Indigenous practitioners to share and develop learnings to place Indigenous people at the heart of environmental and economic advancements.
She has extensive experiences advising senior leaders and commonwealth & state governments on matters relating to transformative policy directions and ethically, respectfully, and strategically amplifying more diverse partnerships and outcomes from reform agendas. Currently, she is a serving member of the Federal Minister for the Environment’s Indigenous Advisory Committee and serves on several committees including Chair of the GBRF Traditional Owner Healthy Water Technical Working Group and member of the Biodiversity Assessment Expert Reference Group around the Nature Repair Market.