John was appointed as the CEO of AMSANT in June 2006.  John’s family is affiliated with the Ngalakan people, located in the Roper River region, south east Arnhem land.

“My goal is to strengthen and enhance our community controlled health services in the NT so we can improve both the quality and life expectancy for Aboriginal people,” John says. “I’m particularly keen to help improve the mental health of the people in our region, with a holistic approach to primary health care.”

He is currently a member of the Coalition of Peaks on the Joint Council for Closing the Gap, and Governing Group member of the Aboriginal Peak Organisations NT.  He is also the current Chairperson for the Central Australian Academic Health Science Network.

He has represented ATSIC at the United Nations Working Group of Indigenous Populations in Geneva, and at Indigenous economic conferences in Canada.

In April this year, John was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Arts from Charles Darwin University in recognition for his exemplary work over the last decades in various Aboriginal organisations and more recently the Aboriginal community-controlled health sector and advocating for Aboriginal Territorians during COVID-19.

John also possesses a Bachelor of Social Science – Human Service Management, Edith Cowan University, 1992 and is a Life Member of Australian Rural Leadership Foundation, 2006.