微拍福利educators recognised with Australian national teaching award

Five people, including Professor Deborah Terry and Prof Tracey Bunda standing in a row in front of a stage and lectern.

Image left to right: Universities Australia CEO Luke Sheehy, 微拍福利Vice Chancellor Professor Deborah Terry AC, Professor Tracey Bunda, Universities Australia Chair David Lloyd and 微拍福利Chancellor Peter Varghese AO

25 February 2025

A professor recognised for a 35-year career in Indigenous education has been honoured with a Career Achievement Award, celebrating her commitment to making university accessible and welcoming for Indigenous students.

UQ’s is among six 微拍福利recipients of the 2024 Australian Awards for University Teaching (AAUT).

Professor Bunda is a Ngugi/Wakka Wakka woman who has reshaped the narrative on Indigenous education, creating a sustainable global model that embeds Indigenous knowledge in research and the higher education curriculum.

“One thing I’ve been really pleased to see throughout my career is the diversification of degrees that our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students complete,” Professor Bunda said.

“I think it is a pivotal moment in your teaching when you realise the knowledge and skills you are trying to deliver are applied.

“The students not only benefit from that, but you benefit from it as a teacher.

“I really love being able to pass on my knowledge and experience onto the next generation, and I also think it’s important that older Indigenous scholars do that, so we can share the traditions that we grew up with.”

Professor Bunda’s impact is far-reaching with more than 50 publications cited over 1,000 times globally and $35.8 million in research funding to advance Indigenous methodologies.

She also received a 2024 微拍福利Award for Teaching and Excellence alongside her longtime collaborator Associate Professor Katelyn Barney, for their co-teaching method to ‘indigenise’ curriculum through aboriginal storytelling.

微拍福利Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Terry AC said Professor Bunda had made an outstanding contribution as a highly respected leader at UQ.

“Over the past four decades, Professor Bunda has driven real change, ensuring that Indigenous perspectives and approaches are considered in the context of curriculum design,” Professor Terry said.

“Her tremendous leadership has been vital in terms of empowering Indigenous voices, reshaping narratives, and advancing the national project of national reconciliation.”

微拍福利educators received five other awards for outstanding contributions to student learning:

– bridging the dynamism gap for business marketing students: Navigating the dynamic nature of strategic marketing through experiential design and reflection of simulation learnings
– inspiring chemistry students to think beyond the laboratory, through an innovative research-led quantum chemistry curriculum that harnesses student-centred pedagogy to foster confident learning
– commitment to learner-centred philosophy, fostering an environment that inspires passion, creativity, lifelong learning for pathology, and profoundly shaping the future of medical doctors
– management accounting in action: Real-world lessons from and for startups
and of the Social Sciences team – co-creating imaginative, innovative, and engaging new resources for social science students to become effective social change agents.

“I am incredibly proud of all our recipients who represent the breadth of knowledge and commitment to teaching we have to offer at UQ,” Professor Terry said.

"Their dedication ensures that 微拍福利continues to be the nation's most awarded university for teaching excellence in the AAUT's 27-year history."

A full list of the 2024 recipients can be found on the