Ursula Raymond

I am Darwin born and raised, and I continue to live here on Larrakia country. My cultural heritage is both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and I have extended family and cultural connections across the Territory, as well as in other parts of Australia, including Kakadu, and the Torres Strait and North Queensland.  I am well known to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across the Northern Territory and Australia, and I know a lot of people generally.

I was part of the inaugural Northern Territory Treaty Commission team established in 2019 by the NT Government which, at that time, was interested in exploring a treaty with First Nations Territorians. My role as the Deputy Treaty Commissioner included talking with First Nations peoples, particularly women, across the NT about Treaty matters:  what is a treaty?, what can be included in a treaty?, and what can/will  a treaty achieve for First Nations Territorians?. Our Final Report was presented to the NT Government in June 2022 with nine recommendations for a Treaty Making Framework in the Northern Territory.  In December 2022 the NT Government shelved the Report.

My professional career has spanned more than 30-years as a broadcaster, journalist, policy adviser, political adviser and community organiser.  In my more youthful days I had a long career in the media, initially as a broadcaster and journalist with the ABC and particularly as Producer of the Awaye! Program on Radio National for more than 10-years, from its inception and its first broadcast out of Mparntwe/Alice Springs on Arrernte country in 1993. Awaye! is now broadcast from Naarm.

I have a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne in Naarm (Melbourne) and I am currently studying Bachelor of Laws at Charles Darwin University.