Dr Debra Dank
Enterprise Fellow
School of Humanities
College of Creative Arts, Design and Humanities
I am Gudanji/Wakaja, from the Barkly Tablelands region in the Northern Territory and Kalkadoon, now called Mount Isa.
For 40 years I have worked in various roles in primary, secondary, and tertiary education including class teacher (primary and secondary), special education teacher, senior teacher, regional consultant, regional manager, lecturer, senior lecturer, and Head of School (tertiary). I have worked in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and the Northern Territory in urban and remote contexts.
I worked to establish the Indigenous Literacy Foundation which included extensive work with remote communities to develop a robust but flexible service delivery model that supported place-based, community-identified responses to literary needs in early childhood education, provision of appropriate literature for remote communities, and the production of reading material for English as a Second language contexts.
I am particularly interested in understanding more about how narrative, in its broadest sense, is practiced in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities and what role semiotics plays in that understanding.
I am passionate about being a good guest with the environment.
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Dank, D. (2025). Friday essay: Debra Dank’s grandmother was a ‘drover’s boy’. Her stolen wages can’t be recovered. The Conversaton. |
| 2024 | Dank, D. (2024). Water sites and songline rites: A new-old science. Science Write Now. |
| 2024 | Edwards, N., Hogarth, C., & Dank, D. (2024). Old stories, new words - multilingualism in a colonised space/place. Journal of Literary Multilingualism, 2(2), 289-305. |
| 2024 | Dank, D. S., & Joseph, S. (2024). Under the scrutiny of the emu. Literary Journalism Studies, 15(1), 183-199. |
| 2024 | Dank, D. (2024). IALJS-18 Keynote Address .. . Under the Scrutiny of the Emu. LITERARY JOURNALISM STUDIES, 15(1), 238 pages. |
| 2024 | Dank, D. (2024). Under the Scrutiny of the Emu. Literary Journalism Studies, 15(1), 182-199. |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Dank, D. (2025). Terraglossia. Echo. |
| 2025 | Dank, D. (2025). Ankami Stolen Children, Shattered Families, Silenced Histories. |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Dank, D. (2024). Past-making within the present. In C. Culver (Ed.), Griffith Review 84 (84 ed., pp. 145-152). Griffith University. |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2022 | Authors: Dank D. Title: We Come with This Place. Extent: N/A. |
| 2019 | Authors: Dank D. Title: A Feather. Extent: online journal. |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2021 | Dank, D. (2021). Landscape, Language and Gudanji: Polyphonic Expressions in Multimodal Narrative Performance. (PhD Thesis, Deakin University). |
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Old ways for new stories: Contemporary Aboriginal Multi-generational Storying, Copyright Agency, 01/10/2025 - 30/04/2026
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Pymble Narrative Project, Pymble Ladies College, 20/11/2023 - 30/11/2023
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Program | Degree Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Co-Supervisor | Stronger Foundations: an examination of colonial entanglement, historical responsibility, and future truth telling at the Adelaide University | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Nicola McRae Butler |
| 2025 | Co-Supervisor | An exploration of spiritual relationships to Country/Place within the Flinders Ranges, Adelaide Plains and Fleurieu Peninsula. How can Indigenous spiritual relationships to Country and non-Indigenous relationship to Place respectfully co-exist? | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Ms Rebecca Louise Hicks |
| 2024 | Co-Supervisor | Blackbirding and Cross-Cultural Ties | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Part Time | Mrs Kristal Brown |
| 2024 | Co-Supervisor | Creative Folklore Journalism and the forgotten tales of South Australia | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Jayden Bartlett |
| 2024 | Co-Supervisor | Decolonising curatorial practices: the relationship between curation and Indigenous artistic representation | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mrs Kat Bell |
| 2022 | Co-Supervisor | ‘Origins’: Belonging through a contemporary ethics of compassion | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Part Time | Michelle Symes |
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Location | Program | Supervision Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 - 2026 | Co-Supervisor | ‘Origins’: Belonging through a contemporary ethics of compassion | Adelaide University | - | Doctorate | Full Time | Michelle Symes |
| Date | Role | Board name | Institution name | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 - ongoing | Board Member | Aboriginal Advisory Board | Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory | Australia |
| Date | Title | Engagement Type | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 - ongoing | Cultural Ambassador | Public Community Engagement | Indigenous Literacy Foundation | Australia |