Hub Staff
Dr Eddie Cubillo
Director - Indigenous Law and Justice Hub
Dr Eddie Cubillo is an Aboriginal man with strong family links in both the urban and rural areas throughout the Northern Territory. He is a descendant of the Larrakia, Wadjigan and Central Arrente peoples. Eddie is a lawyer, admitted to the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory and is recognised nationally and internationally for his experience and expertise in Indigenous governance and justice service delivery to First Nations Peoples.
In 2022 he completed his PhD thesis titled What Does ‘Self-determination’ mean in the context of legal service provision for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services, which involved interviews with key stakeholders in the ATSILS movement and won the UTS Chancellors award for outstanding thesis on the grounds of the significance of the work and the quality of the thesis.
Dr Cubillo has been a former Chair of the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) and the Northern Territory Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee. In 2002 he was elected to the ATSIC Yilli Rreung Regional Council, and subsequently became the Chair. In 2010 Dr Cubillo was appointed the Anti - Discrimination Commissioner of the Northern Territory. He then took on the role of Executive Officer with National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (NATSILS) where he championed the rights of Indigenous Australians in a legal context. In 2015 he was named the National Indigenous Legal Professional of the year and in 2016 attended Geneva on a UN Indigenous fellowship. In 2017 he took up an opportunity to work on the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory as the Director of Community Engagement.
Amongst Eddie's extensive engagement, he currently sits as an Independent Representative on the Justice Policy Partnership under the Closing the Gap Agreement, Co-Chairs the Indigenous Governance Awards for Reconciliation Australia and is a member of the panel appointing members to the Victorian Treaty Authority.
Jaynaya Dwyer
Lecturer - Indigenous Law and Justice Hub
Jaynaya is a non-Indigenous lawyer of Anglo-Indian and Irish heritage, who grew up on Wurundjeri Country. She is lucky to be learning about First Nations justice and decolonisation of legal practice at the Hub, where she undertakes broad work on the review to Indigenise and decolonise the MLS Juris Doctor Curriculum, hosts the White Noise podcast and teaches a range of innovating elective subjects on First Nations Rights. Jaynaya is passionate about developing the capacity of MLS graduates to support First Nations justice movements. Jaynaya was previously a Research Assistant at MLS Clinics, and brings a strong drive to enhance interpersonal skills, empathy and reflective practice in future-lawyers.
Prior to joining the Hub, Jaynaya was living on Ngunnawal Country, working as a Legal Policy Officer in the Commonwealth Attorney General’s Department. During this time Jaynaya took on the role of the Department’s Diversity and Inclusion Advisor, leading the development of the Department’s Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, as well as other organisational strategy, policy and initiatives to restructure government’s ways of doing business and centre voices traditionally excluded from policy development.
Elyse Keyser
Program Coordinator - Indigenous Law and Justice Hub (currently on Maternity Leave)
Elyse joined the Law School in 2021 where she worked with the Melbourne School of Government and as Executive Officer before moving to the Hub in 2023. Prior to that, Elyse was at a not-for-profit for a number of years working in Government Relations and Advocacy, primarily for small businesses and industry. She now coordinates across the Hub's many initiatives and areas, including events, research, education, engagement, projects, strategy and governance.
Elyse has a Bachelor of Arts majoring in International Relations and Political Science at the University of Queensland, and a Masters in Public and Social Policy from Macquarie University. She is a non-Indigenous woman with anglo-european heritage who grew up on Turrbal-Yuggera land, and now lives and works on Wurundjeri Country.