Charles O'Leary

2019 Cohort

Charles is delivering evidenced-based Indigenous Australian strategy and outcomes, supported by the ability to develop trusting and ethical relationships with the Indigenous community and colleagues from across the sector.

Charles is a Gamilaroi man from Barraba, NSW and currently the Chair and Board Director of Wangal United.

Charles is the Chair and a Board Director of Wangal United - a Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation in the west of Melbourne. He is currently completing a Master of Philosophy at the University of Melbourne examining the strengths of Indigenous Australians employed at Australian Higher Education Institutes.

“My vision is for Aboriginal people to transcend the discourse and lived experience of disadvantage in the belief that Australian Aboriginal spirit is strong with an unbroken connection to time, space, and place. In doing so the Aboriginal they will free themselves from the bondage of colonised oppression and be liberated to live the life they choose.”

Social change work

Charles’ social change project is to develop a Grounded Indigenous Australian Flourishing Theory. The primary objective of the proposal is to develop a theoretical framework, which will create a national shift in consciousness that will liberate Indigenous Australians from lived experiences of survival and languish to the lived experience of flourishment.