(2 November 1940 – 21st February 2026)

We acknowledge the passing of Professor MaryAnn Bin-Sallik, a Djura elder from the East Kimberly.

We acknowledge her work and dedication in the fields of nursing and Aboriginal education and for her advocacy for equity for Aboriginal people.

A quote from the ABC article Remembering professor Maryann Bin-Sallik states,

At age nine her family moved to Darwin, which was a time in her life where she remembered a shift in her education.

She was not allowed to sit for the scholarship in year seven and was instead expected to be trained as an Aboriginal domestic worker.

“That’s when I really understood racism,” she recalled in an interview with Western Sydney University last year.

“I got so angry and I’m still angry and that motivates me.”

Professor Bin-Sallik was, in 1962, the first Aboriginal person to graduate in nursing studies from the Royal Darwin hospital. She practised as a nurse across the NT for 17 years. From there she moved into university studies, completing a Doctorate in Teaching and Learning. Professor Bin-Sallik then became the first Aboriginal person to graduate from Havard University with a PhD.

Over her decades of work and advocacy for her people, she held many positions including co-commissioner of the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Enquiry into the Forced Removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children.

This article appeared in Wilcannia News, 3 March 2026.