University of Melbourne; Melbourne School of Population and Global Health

Professor Marcia Langton AO, FASSA, AFTSE, is a Yiman and Bidjara First Nations woman from Queensland, Australia. She is an anthropologist and geographer, and currently serves as the Associate Provost and Foundation Chair of Australian Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne, and Director of the Indigenous Studies Unit at Onemda, within the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health. In 2022, she was appointed a Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor. In July 2025, she was appointed a Melbourne Laureate Professor.

A prominent national figure in Indigenous rights, scholarship, and advocacy, Professor Langton continues to shape policy and public discourse across a wide range of areas, including Indigenous health, domestic and family violence, and Indigenous data sovereignty.

An acclaimed author and editor, her recent publications include Welcome to Country: A Guide to Indigenous Australia (2021); Law: The Way of the Ancestors (2023, with Professor Aaron Corn); Dhoombak Goobgoowana: A History of Indigenous Australia and the University of Melbourne – Volume 1: Truth (Co-Edited with Dr Ross Jones and Dr James Dr. James Waghorne (2024); 65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art (2024, co-edited with Judith Ryan AM); and Indigenous Knowledge: Australian Perspectives (2024, co-edited with Professor Aaron Corn and Dr Samuel Curkpatrick). The second volume of Dhoombak Goobgoowana – Voice (co-edited with Dr. Ross Jones and Dr. James Waghorne), was published in August 2025.

Professor Langton brings a deeply informed and generous perspective to this event, grounded in decades of cultural, academic, and community leadership.