First Nations Health, Charles Sturt University

Rhys Callaghan is a proud Worimi man from the coastal community of Karuah, NSW, and a devoted father of two daughters. He brings a wealth of experience and cultural insight to his work, grounded in both academic achievement and deep community engagement.

Rhys has extensive frontline experience across the community sector, including out-of-home care, youth services, community development, and mental health. For the past five years, he has worked as a consultant, facilitator, researcher, and educator, focusing on improving how agencies and organisations engage with Aboriginal communities in culturally safe and effective ways.

Currently the Head of Discipline, First Nations Health at Charles Sturt University and a PhD candidate, Rhys holds qualifications in community services, training and assessment, and social science, as well as a Master of Philosophy (MPhil). His most profound learning, however, comes from time spent on Country with Elders since childhood, shaping his understanding of Aboriginal knowledge systems.

Rhys is passionate about creating better futures for generations to come through social justice and advocating for the integration of Aboriginal ontology, epistemology, pedagogy, and axiology into mainstream practice. His work challenges the Western paradigm to embrace Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing.