Monash Faculty of IT appoints inaugural Associate Dean (Indigenous)

Monash University’s Faculty of Information Technology is proud to announce the appointment of its first Associate Dean (Indigenous), Professor Christopher Lawrence. Commencing in early January 2023, he will lead the delivery and enhancement of the Faculty’s strategic plan and vision for the advancement of First Nations peoples.

Professor Lawrence is a proud Wadjak/Ballardong man from the Noongar Nation of the South West of Western Australia. He also identifies with, and has blood ties to, the Pilbara, Gascoyne and Goldfields regions.

He joins the faculty from Curtin University’s Faculty of Science & Engineering (SAE) where he is currently Dean and Professor of Indigenous Engagement, creating greater opportunities to support Aboriginal students, staff, partners and community members.

With exemplary experience, networks and academic performance across research, education and engagement – particularly in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities – Professor Lawrence will drive the Faculty’s contributions to the broader University Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Framework: 2019 – 2030 and Impact 2030.

‘Indigenous Australians are the first scientists, technologists, engineers, mathematicians, architects, doctors and many, many more. They used complex designs and technology to navigate and build a range of equipment and constructions – including a flying machine and tools capable of creating high acceleration and speed. If anyone can pick up a piece of wood, throw it and make it come back, they must be innovators!’ said Professor Lawrence.

‘Under my leadership, these are the Indigenous knowledge systems that all students and staff will learn about, as well as how they can be ethical, inclusive world leaders who work with Indigneous people in Australia and across the globe.’

Upon joining Monash Professor Lawrence will bring the landmark National Indigenous Space Academy (NISA) initiative, a pathway for First Nations students to study at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, US, #Thismymob which is a world-first app to reconnect Indigenous communities, and a project developing digital health technologies to help Aboriginal young people with ear disease.

He will also focus on how co-design is used to embed Indigenous knowledge systems into technologies, as well as architecture and landscapes architecture for new buildings.

Underpinning Professor Lawrence’s work at Monash will be a focus on collaborating with Aboriginal communities in Victoria – using technology and innovation to improve their health, wellbeing and education while fostering more ‘tech-smart’ communities through co-design. Working with researchers across the faculty, he will also engage Indigenous and non-Indigenous students in schools and high schools to nurture the next digital and space explorer workforce of the future.

‘I’m delighted that Professor Lawrence, with his impressive track record of leadership, innovation, impact and advocacy, will lead our faculty’s Indigenous engagement. I look forward to the transformative outcomes he will drive, particularly in digital health and attracting more First Nations students to our programs.’ said Professor Ann Nicholson, Dean of Monash Faculty of IT.

Further exemplifying his passion for real-world impact, Professor Lawrence has successfully integrated Indigenous knowledge systems in curricula and infrastructure, and devised inaugural Indigenous strategies. He also led the development of the first Indigenous Graduate Attribute across STEM in Higher Education, established and directed the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Centre for Indigenous Technology Research and Development, and created the cross-disciplinary SMART Indigenous Community program that co-designed a smart health hub for an Aboriginal Medical Service.

As a researcher, he has been Chief Investigator on many grants including an NHMRC Tripartite study exploring Indigenous Resilience in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Professor Lawrence also co-piloted an NHMRC International Collaborative Indigenous Health Research Partnership Grant worth $1.7M, and in 2016, he received an ARC grant to explore how technology can help ‘Close the Gap’, improve Aboriginal health and wellbeing, and reconnect them to ancestral lands and communities. In total he has attracted nearly $10M in funding for research towards Indigenous health, 22 peer-reviewed publications, numerous conference presentations and many keynote speaker invitations.

Earlier in his career, Professor Lawrence worked at local, state, national and global levels in Indigenous education and sexual health, and played a significant role in Australia’s 4th HIV/AIDS Strategy and the National Indigenous Sexual Health Strategy and Implementation Plan 1998-2001.

Professor Lawrence has a master's in Applied Epidemiology from the Australian National University (2005) and a Doctor of Philosophy Public Health from the University of Sydney (2015). In 2008 he became an Australian-American National Indigenous Fulbright Scholar starting at the Harvard University School of Public Health supporting diabetes interventions, before moving to Howard University, Washington DC in 2009 where he worked on improving the emotional and social wellbeing of African-American college youth.