Debra Bennet

Community & Cutural Development Practitioner, Author, Curator.

Debra Bennet is a 'Goorie Woman', a direct descendant of the Kullali Peoples (of South Western QLD) and Wakka Wakka and Gubbi Gubbi Peoples (of South East Queensland). With 28 years of successful community and cultural development experience, Debra has held various roles in the arts sector, disability sector, correctional centers and adult education arenas. Her work involves the process of creatively drawing from, and working across disciplines and industry sectors to develop and strengthen community, and care for our natural environment.

She is currently employed as Manager of the Indigenous Arts & Community Cultural Development Program with QLD Community Arts Network (QCAN), is a partner in Nuthakine Consultancy, serves as a member of QLD Museums & Regional Galleries Indigenous Advisory Board, chairs the QLD Indigenous Arts Marketing & Export Agency (QIAMEA) within the Department of Premier & Cabinet, and is a founding member and director of the National Foundation for Indigenous Recovery and Development.

Debra facilitates arts and cultural workshops including workshops on Cultural Awareness, Cultural Competencies and Alternative Approaches to Leadership. She is also the author of Dynamic Wisdom of the Yarning Circle, and author/inventor of the Yarning Circle Framework and Process, based on her paternal grandfather's clans (Kullali) stories and ceremonies given to her by Kullali and Wakka Wakka Elders within her clan.

Deb is committed to building communities through maintaining social justice, arts & cultural practices and culturally appropriate processes. She supports the broader aspirations and professional development of Indigenous communities and marginalised young people globally, working to ensure that all people have the right to learn in ways which suit their specific needs - to retrieve, and uphold wisdom to help them develop to their fullest capacity, live a rich spiritual and cultural life, and sustain the natural environment.