Nationality Australian Occupation Academic, artist | Name Lynette Riley | |
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Born 1956 (age 58–59) Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia Other names Lynette Riley-Mundine, Lynette Mundine Spouse(s) Warren Mundine (1984–c.2008) | ||
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Lynette Riley (born 1956) is an academic at the University of Sydney, currently employed with the newly established National Centre for Cultural Competence. Lynette is a Wiradjuri and Gamilaroi woman from Dubbo and Moree and has seven children. Riley's career has been varied with a strong focus on teaching, academia and making changes in the lives of Aboriginal people. She is well known for her promotion of Aboriginal culture, in particular her Kinship presentations and the associated online module.
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Personal life
Riley was born in 1956 in Dubbo, New South Wales. She completed her schooling at Dubbo High School before completing teacher training at Armidale College of Advanced Education in 1977. Her first posting as a teacher was at Moree, New South Wales.
In 1983 Riley shared a house with politician Linda Burney and contemporary indigenous visual artist Michael Riley.
Riley wed Aboriginal leader and politician Warren Mundine in 1984 at St Andrew's Congregational Church in Balmain and raised seven children with him (two from his previous marriage and one a foster child). The couple renewed their vows in 2003 at St Brigid's Catholic Church, Dubbo. They separated in 2006, and then again in 2008, at which time she changed her surname back to Riley.
Career
Riley has education experience in a range of organisations including primary schools, high schools, TAFE and universities. In addition to teaching and research, Riley has also been actively involved in state government policy, for example as Acting Director of Aboriginal Education and Training NSW DET in 2002-2005.
From 1986 Riley became a research fellow at the University of New England. She founded the Aboriginal Student Support Centre, "Oorala Centre" at the University and went on to establish the 'Frank Archibald Memorial Lecture' series focusing on Aboriginal issues.
By 2013 she was a Senior Lecturer in Indigenous Studies at the University of Sydney.
Riley is currently finishing her PhD. As part of this research, she conducted comprehensive qualitative research into high achieving students in NSW, finding that the high achieving Aboriginal students in NSW surveyed have a strong and positive sense of their cultural identity.
Kinship Module
In July 2014, the University of Sydney launched the online learning tool 'Kinship Module' which aims to increase understanding of indigenous culture. The content of this online module was largely based on research conducted by Riley and her colleagues Janet Mooney and Deirdre Howard-Wagner. Riley has been conducting Kinship presentations for a variety of audiences for many years with great success.