Cathy Eatock
About
Cathy Eatock is a Kairi/Badjula woman, whose people come from central Queensland, Australia. Cathy has a solid history in community advocacy work extending over 25 years, including a central role in the Committee to Defend Black Rights, which successfully campaigned for the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
Cathy is currently the NSW Director of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Alliance, and chairperson of the Aboriginal Rights Coalition, which she established in response to the NT Intervention in 2007.
A key component of this work is advocating within the international arena. Cathy has attended the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) from 2011–2016; she has also attended the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) and presented as a panellist for the Commission on the Status of Women.
In her current work, Cathy draws on her broad previous experience – as a senior policy officer in Aboriginal Affairs NSW and as the CEO of Mudgin-Gal Aboriginal Women’s Centre in Redfern. Cathy has recently completed a Master of Human Rights and is now a PhD candidate, considering the impact of the United Nations in supporting the implementation of self-determination within nation states, and assessing how this may inform Australia.
