Jackie Huggins
Quick Facts
Biography
Jacqueline Gail "Jackie" Huggins AM, FAHA (born 19 August 1956) is an Indigenous Australian author, historian and Aboriginal rights activist of the Bidjara Central Queensland and Birri-Gubba Juru North Queensland peoples. She is the Deputy Director of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit, an Adjunct Professor in the School of Social Work and Human Services at the University of Queensland and a Spokesperson for Recognise.
Huggins is a former Co-Chair of Reconciliation Australia, the former Chair of the Queensland Domestic Violence Council, and has been a member of the National Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, the AIATSIS Council, and Co-Commissioner for Queensland for the Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal Children. In 2001 she was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her work with Indigenous people, particularly in reconciliation, literacy, women's issues and social justice. In 2007 Huggins was named University of Queensland Alumnus of the Year. She has published a wide range of essays and studies dealing with Indigenous history and identity. She is the author of Sistergirl (University of Queensland Press, 1998), and co-author, with Rita Huggins, of the critically acclaimed biography Auntie Rita (Aboriginal Studies Press, 1994).
"We must respect each other's right to choose a collective destiny, and the opportunity to develop the legal and political rights for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples so that we may enjoy the right to maintain our culture, our heritage and our land, as a united Australia".