Ron Murray

Consultant and Learning & Development Specialist (Indigenous Awareness)

Ron is a descendent of the Wamba Wamba tribe (Swan Hill, Victoria) and the Tatiara tribe (Bordertown, South Australia). His totems are wiran, the red tail black cockatoo on his father's side and richierook, the willy wagtail on his mother's side.

Growing up in redgum forest country in the traditional lands of the Muthi Muthi people, Balranald NSW, Ron was lucky to grow up with his culture, with his mother, father and five sisters at a time when many Indigenous children were being removed from their family as part of the Stolen Generations policy.

Spending his childhood living in the bush on a 240,000 acre sheep and cattle station, with the mighty Murrumbidgee River as his back garden and surrounded by Aboriginal sacred country and sacred sites, Ron is passionate about his heritage, the environment, and about keeping Aboriginal art and culture alive.

For the past 15 years Ron has worked for Indigenous communities in a variety of roles, always pressing for social justice, and trying to educate the wider non Indigenous community at the same time. He was Aboriginal Advisor to Victoria Police for five years till 2000, and worked for the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service between 1992-95 as client service officer, and then Deputy Manager.

Ron is currently Indigenous trainer for Diversity@Work and conducts Aboriginal cultural awareness workshops across a variety of community, government, education (primary, secondary and tertiary levels) and corporate sectors. He has a national reputation as a speaker, and regularly gives presentations and lectures on Indigenous issues in the areas of employment, history, the environment, justice, cultural heritage, arts practice and the positive contributions of Indigenous people to Australian society.

Ron is also kept busy with his solo career as an accomplished didgeridoo musician. As well as a soloist, Ron regularly performs as part of the duo Kinja, with partner Sarah James (fiddle player and vocalist). As an artist, Ron is a well regarded wood sculptor and is widely regarded as a maker of fine mallee didgeridoos and redgum boomerangs.