Jody Saxton-Barney

Indigenous Leadership Emerging Leader 2011 - 2012 Biography Jody Saxton-Barney is a Murri woman from Urangan (near Harvey Bay) with kinship to Frazer Island Birri-Gubba and Gurangi people of Barcaldine. For the last 20 years Jody has been in Victoria and where she has developed very strong connections to mob from Wodonga to Mildura, Bairnsdale to Eden, Geelong to Warrnambool and her home town of Shepparton, and all regional centres.

She has established these connections due to her extensive work as a private consultant, community developer and researcher. She finds that her connection is due to working with many families where there are numerous members who are Deaf or hard of hearing and now with the increase of disability, mental illness and recently acquired brain injury.

Jody has been given permission to present at various locations and attend functions that raises the awareness of disabilities (especially deafness) across a whole sector of community.  She volunteers in many communities her time in teaching Auslan (Australian Sign Language) in the home and in the community to increase access to communication.

Jody has participated and achieved leadership training from AILC (Australia Indigenous Leadership Centre) OIPC (Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination).  Her experience in leadership has scoped across many industries, not only Indigenous but within non-Indigenous arenas. These combined leadership skills in education, employment, human rights, disability, women, and parenting have given her a strong sense of leadership that is only developing stronger.

She was the first Deaf Aboriginal woman to present at local, state, national and International levels over the empowerment of Aboriginal people with disabilities including the discussions regarding the National Congress process and the need to be inclusive of gender equality and rights of Victoria Aboriginal people in all service sectors.  Jody has worked tirelessly on developing her leadership skills by completing her education over this period to have now a long-time dream become a reality as she gained her first university degree a Bachelor of Applied Management with University of Ballarat.

Jody is the first Deaf Aboriginal person who will have a business degree in Australia and takes her leadership journey very seriously and importantly leading by example.

She mentors other Deaf Aboriginal people around the state, as well as providing a leadership to local Aboriginal people with disabilities, and advocates for the rights of Aboriginal people at all levels of engagement in community, government and community service fields.