Lynne Stuart (Mandandanji Woman)

Biography

Dr Lynne Stuart is a Mandandanji Aboriginal woman whose Traditional Country is in the Maranoa District of South-West Queensland. Born on Kabi Kabi/Gubbi Gubbi Country on the Sunshine Coast, she continues to live and work on Country while maintaining strong cultural connections with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, Communities and Elders. Her identity as an Aboriginal woman, Registered Nurse, educator, researcher, and community member informs her commitment to advancing Indigenous Peoples health, wellbeing, and self-determination.

Dr Stuart is an Aboriginal Nursing Academic and Senior Lecturer in the School of Health at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC). With extensive expertise in surgical and perioperative nursing, she has contributed to higher education for more than 20 years through teaching, leadership, engagement, and Indigenous Peoples capacity-building initiatives.

Grounded in Indigenous Peoples ways of knowing, being, doing, and belonging, her work focuses on Indigenous health equity, Cultural Safety, workforce development, and Indigenous leadership in healthcare and education. Through her teaching, research, and community engagement, she remains connected to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and communities, guided by her 'Dreaming with Care' philosophy of giving back and supporting future generations of Indigenous nurses, midwives, students, academics, and leaders.

Dr Stuart completed her PhD at UniSC in 2018. Her doctoral thesis, Maroochy Dreaming: The Stories of Aboriginal Nursing Academics who have been employed within Schools of Nursing and Midwifery in Queensland Universities between 2003 and 2013, explored the experiences and contributions of Aboriginal nursing academics in higher education. Her work continues to advance Indigenous nursing scholarship through Truth-telling, Cultural Safety, Indigenous nursing and midwifery leadership, and the transformation of health and education systems to better meet the aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.