Melissa Kennedy
2023 Cohort
Melissa is decolonising natural resource management through First Nations-led programs, education and employment to heal country, improve community wellbeing and restore justice for First Nations peoples.
Melissa is a Tati Tati Traditional Owner from the Murray River region in Northwest Victoria advocating for First Nations’ sovereignty, self-determination, and water justice. Melissa is the co-founder and CEO of Tati Tati Kaiejin, a not-for-profit, Indigenous-owned and operated conservation group that champions First Nations-led sustainable environmental practices.
A key objective for Melissa is decolonising natural resource management through processes of education and employment. As a Research Fellow at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Families and Children over the Life Course, hosted by the University of Melbourne, Melissa’s research focus is on better understanding and documenting the relationship between water (through Cultural Flows) and Indigenous well-being over the life course, supporting outcomes of policy change and First Nations empowerment.
Melissa was also a co-author of Water is Life - a significant policy commitment by the Victorian Government on First Nations water justice, a current member of the Murray Darling Basin Authority First Nations Leadership Committee, and current member of the Victorian Aboriginal Water Officer Network.
“Decolonising natural resource management through First Nations-led programs, education, and employment to heal Country, improve community wellbeing, and restore justice for First Nations peoples.”
Social change work
Through the creation of a Kaiejin Cultural Centre, Melissa will re-centre Tati Tati traditional knowledge, promote employment in traditional fields of caring for Country, create a space for personal healing, and champion culturally informed education. The decolonisation of education is a key to combating the ongoing harm and trauma of colonisation and decolonising natural resource management will enable First Nations peoples to heal Country and as a result heal communities. This community-led project will become an institute for culturally informed education based on the long-lasting knowledge and values of Traditional Owners.