David Spillman

I am an Aboriginal man connected and obligated to Karilkiyalu Country south of Brewarrina, NSW where the most substantial aspects of my cultural learning have occurred, Ugarapul / Jagerra Country in south-east QLD where I live, and Ngunnawal Country in the ACT where I work. I am a career educator having taught in schools, communities and universities. In schools this includes every year level (P-12) in a variety of remote, rural, regional and urban settings in QLD and the NT over a thirty-five-year period. For nine of these years, I lived and worked with my family in remote Indigenous communities in the NT. Two children’s books were written and published through this time, both originally created to assist Indigenous children in remote Australia to better understand and appreciate cultural strengths and differences.

Both my endeavours at UC and previously, since 2014, have been focused on fulfilling cultural obligations. Through working with school and university executive, staff and communities, I have focused on facilitating the cultivation of ‘relating with Country’ practices, enabling all people to come to know, love, and learn to enter reciprocal, caring relationships with the places they live.