The Vice-Chancellor of ANU, Professor Brian Schmidt AC, has announced that Dr Tony Dreise, a proud descendent of the Guumilaroi and Euahlayi First Nations of north-west New South Wales and south-west Queensland, has been appointed Professor of Indigenous Policy Research and will be the new Director of the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR).

Tony is nationally and internationally recognised as a First Nations leader in policy, evaluation and research in the field of education. He has had a long policy and research career in Queensland and New South Wales, having worked as a Principal Indigenous Research Fellow at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). He has recently been worked as a Senior Fellow at CAEPR as a ‘researcher–in-residence’ with Aboriginal Affairs NSW.

Tony’s longstanding interest in the relationship between research, evaluation and policy is particularly relevant for this position and was part of his PhD thesis here at ANU, undertaken at CAEPR. He will bring innovative ideas to the interface between social and economic research and the policy community. As an experienced educator, he will also make a very valuable contribution to the development of Indigenous Studies at ANU.

Among his career highlights, Tony has been a Research Officer with the Queensland Aboriginal Justice Advisory Council and Graduate Policy Officer with the Queensland Office of the Cabinet, National Equity Manager with the Australian National Training Authority & National Executive Officer with the Australian Indigenous Training Advisory Council, Principal Indigenous Education Officer with NSW Department of Education and Training, Executive Director of Policy & Partnerships with the Queensland Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy, and Director of Aboriginal Learning Partnerships & Director of Inclusion and Student Support Services at the North Coast Institute.

Dr Dreise will commence in his new position on 12 March 2019.