Dr Jacynta Krakouer

Dr Jacynta Krakouer (BSc, MSW, MSP PhD Melb) is a Mineng Noongar woman who lives and works on Wurundjeri country in Naarm (Melbourne), Australia, also occasionally working on Kaurna country. She is currently employed as an Aboriginal Enterprise Fellow at the University of South Australia, in the UniSA Justice and Society Unit, affiliated with the Australian Centre for Child Protection.

A professional social worker and academic, Her PhD in social work at the University of Melbourne focused on cultural connection in out-of-home care for First Nations children and young people in Victoria.

Jacynta previously worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Monash University in the Health and Social Care Unit in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine. Prior to this, she worked as an Associate Lecturer at the University of Melbourne in the Department of Social Work, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences (MDHS) where she taught topics in child and family welfare and social work practice with Indigenous Australians.

Prior to her roles at Universities, she was a Graduate Research Fellow at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) where she worked on evaluation and research projects about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander early childhood education, STEM education and the educational needs of children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Prior to commencing her research role at ACER in 2016, Jacynta worked as a social worker in the child and family welfare field, predominately working as a Case Worker with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, children and their carers.

Jacynta is a member of the Family Matters Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership group, a national initiative to end the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in child protection and out-of-home care systems. She also sits on multiple Expert Advisory Committees.