UTS appoints new Pro Vice-Chancellor

Indigenous human rights, financial services, and public policy advocate, Professor Robynne Quiggin, will take on the role of Pro Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous Leadership and Engagement). 

Professor Quiggin has been acting in the position full time since November 2022.

“I am delighted to be confirmed in this role and look forward to supporting UTS’s commitment to self-determined outcomes. Our excellence in Indigenous research and teaching and learning, with a view to maximising impact in our communities, makes me proud and excited for the future of our work,” said Professor Quiggin. 

Professor Quiggin has a leading role in the Indigenous Residential College project, and in revising UTS’s Indigenous employment, education and research strategies. She has also led UTS’s position and activities around the Voice to Parliament, encouraging meaningful discussion with a particular focus on staff and student safety and a respectful environment.  

Vice Chancellor and President, Professor Andrew Parfitt, says Professor Quiggin is a crucial part of the university’s most senior leadership team.

“Professor Quiggin is a key advisor to myself and the University Leadership Team for Indigenous education, research and employment. I look forward to her continuing to provide expert strategic leadership and achieving key results across the university and broader community.” 

Professor Quiggin is a proud member of the Wiradyuri nation of central western New South Wales and in 2018 was appointed as the Associate Dean (Indigenous Leadership and Engagement) for both the UTS Business School and the Faculty of Law.  

Prior to joining UTS in 2017, Professor Quiggin was Deputy Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission. She has undertaken a number of appointments by the NSW and Commonwealth Governments, including the Aboriginal Trust Fund Repayment Scheme Panel and the Commonwealth Consumer Advisory Committee.

As a lawyer, Professor Quiggin has a long-standing commitment to a rights-based framework as a mechanism for individuals and communities to pursue their social, economic, cultural, linguistic and artistic priorities. She has participated in a number of international human rights and biodiversity forums and published on the role of rights in relation to the economic, cultural, artistic and scientific work of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

Professor Quiggin is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has served as Chair of the Aboriginal Housing Office, Chair of Westpac Indigenous Advisory Committee, a member of the Council of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), a member of the Board of Supply Nation, a trustee of the Australian Museum and has contributed to many other Indigenous organisations, corporations and government appointments. 

Professor Quiggin is the first Aboriginal trustee to Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences Trust in the museum’s 143-year standing. She is currently a member of the Board of NAISDA Dance College, the Board of the Australian Sustainable Finance Institute, the Commonwealth Ministerial Advisory Group on the Circular Economy, the Net Zero Economy Agency Advisory Board and the ASIC’s Consumer Advisory Panel. 

Professor Quiggin has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of New South Wales. She also has a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice Training from the NSW College of Law.