Juanita Sherwood

Juanita is a registered nurse, teacher, lecturer, researcher and manager with a depth of working experiences of some thirty years in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and education.

She has an extensive track record specifically in the area of Indigenous research spanning over 3 decades. Her career has encompassed the health and education government and non-government sector, as well as the academy. She has been involved in, and ran a number of State-wide and National projects, developed policies and strategic plans that have required wide-ranging consultation; in-depth literature reviews; data collection using government and non-government sources; and negotiated their implementation strategically and informatively.

Her research experience has been in the areas of Indigenous health, education, and social justice; lecturing in the spectrum of Indigenous social justice issues and Indigenous research approaches; mentoring and building the capacity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander postgraduate students within an National Indigenous research development agenda; working with Aboriginal communities to assist in developing their research agendas and methods for undertaking research; establishing a National Indigenous Staff / Researcher Network within the University Departments of Rural Health across Australia; fostering “a how to rollout cultural competency” and safe learning environments for students Indigenous and non-Indigenous, academic and health staff; and the development of a unique Indigenous health resource websitehttp://utsindigenoushealth.com/.

Through her lived experience, personal study and working history, Juanita has developed a strong cultural framework from which she can effectively present her knowledge in relation to education, history, culture, health and social justice. Having had the opportunity to work and live in urban, rural and remote communities she has been provided a hands on appreciation of the diversity of environmental, political and service delivery issues that implode upon our communities. These learning opportunities have ensured that she can confidently work well with many different groups who often hold divergent priorities.

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Research interests
Her research interest is in the areas of Indigenous health, education, and social justice,Indigenous pedagogy and Indigenous Research methodologies, Indigenous ethics and perhaps more importantly cultural competence

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