The ALS Board pictured in September 2023. Seated, L to R: Helen Brown (former Director), Cindy Fuller, Karly Warner (CEO), Antionette House, Aunty Lorraine Wright (Deputy Chairperson). Standing, L to R: Avery Brown (former Director), Uncle Hewitt Whyman, Keith Morgan, Jason Allan (Chairperson), Raymond Keed, Peter Stapleton, Robert Carroll. Not pictured: Kelvin Allen, Mark Davies, Patricia Laurie, Tamika Murphy.
Jason Allan - Chairperson
Director for Northern Region
Jason Allan was elected as Chairperson in August 2023. His father’s Country is Walhallow Kamilaroi and his mother’s Country is Yass Ngunnawal.
Jason has over 25 years’ experience working to benefit community through federal, state and local government agencies. He has been Chief Executive Officer of the Walhallow Local Aboriginal Land Council since 2008, is a Councillor on the Liverpool Plains Shire Council, and has previously worked with ATSIC and Aboriginal Hostels Canberra.
Jason sees his cultural and work journeys as intertwined. He is an active member of Liverpool Plains Aboriginal communities, teaching Gamilaraay language and cultural practices at local schools and community events. He is a proud husband, father and grandfather.
Aunty Lorraine Wright - Deputy Chairperson
Director for Western Region
Aunty Lorraine is a proud Wiradjuri woman, mother and grandmother from Dubbo.
She began working with the Western Aboriginal Legal Service in 1997, where she would remain for 16 years (including the period when the organisation was merged into the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Limited). After five years of retirement, she applied to become an ALS Director and has been honoured to fulfil this role for seven years and counting.
In her earlier working life, Aunty Lorraine served in government departments including ATSIC, the Commonwealth Employment Agency, and Department of Education and Training.
Kelvin Allen
Director for Northern Region
Kelvin is a proud Gomeroi man. His mob is from Walhallow and he grew up in Tamworth.
Kelvin has always enjoyed working directly with community, including in his current role as a Project Officer at Aboriginal Affairs NSW. He has previously worked at the NSW Aboriginal Land Council as a LALC Support Officer and Senior LALC Support Officer; Housing NSW as a Tenancy Manager; and at NSW Health as an Environmental Health Trainee.
Kelvin has served on a number of boards including for NSW Housing, Homes North Community Housing, the Tamworth Aboriginal Medical Service, and Walhallow Murri Enterprises. He holds a Diploma of Aboriginal Studies from the University of Newcastle.
Robert Carroll
Director for Western Region
Robert is a proud Wiradjuri man. He spent his early years living on both the “Aboriginal Sandhills”, a shanty settlement on the banks of the Murrambidgee River in Narrandera; and the Three Ways Aboriginal Reserve on the outskirts of Griffith.
During his working career, Robert has held a range of senior Aboriginal identified positions in the fields of employment and training, and both employed and elected roles in Aboriginal land rights and housing. He was formerly the Chairperson of the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Commission Wagga Wagga. He is currently the Regional Manager of MLAHMC Parkes and Dubbo, the largest Aboriginal housing management organisation in NSW.
Mark Davies
Director for Northern Region
Mark is a proud Dunghutti man from Walcha. He is the owner-operator of a small business in Uralla.
He previously served as Chairperson of the ALS from 2020 to 2023, and was formerly CEO of the Amaroo Local Aboriginal Land Council; Chairperson of the Northern Regional Aboriginal Alliance; and Deputy Chairperson of the NSW Coalition of Aboriginal Regional Alliances.
He has a passion for social justice for our mob, including ensuring that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people get fair and equal opportunities to access services.
Cindy Fuller
Director for Central South Eastern Region
Cindy is a Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi woman. She was born on Wailwan Country after both her mother and father’s families were rounded up and put on missions and reserves. She has lived on Ngunnawal Country since 1991.
Cindy has worked as a public servant since the 1970s in the Department of Education ACT, Women’s Service ACT, Commonwealth Employment Service and Department of Social Security.
Antionette House
Director for Central South Eastern Region
Before originally becoming an ALS Member and Director in 2009, Antionette was Chairperson for the Aboriginal Legal Service for South Eastern NSW (SEALS) and has also been involved with Aboriginal legal services in Brisbane and Ipswich.
She has spent most of her working life in Aboriginal affairs for both government and community organisations, with a focus on health, education, housing, legal and justice issues.
She rejoined the ALS Board of Directors in 2021.
Raymond Keed
Director for Western Region
Raymond is a proud Wiradjuri man. He spent many years living in the Queanbeyan/Canberra area where he worked as a drug and alcohol counsellor for mob in the region. He also worked as Aboriginal Liaison Officer with local police.
For the past 21 years, Raymond has lived and worked in Peak Hill in central west NSW. He is a member of the NSW Aboriginal Land Council and the Aboriginal Medical Service, as well as being the longest serving current director on the board of the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Ltd.
Patricia Laurie
Director for Northern Region
Patricia is a Yaegl/Bundjalung woman from the Far North Coast of NSW. These are her grandmother’s Countries, and she also acknowledges her grandfather’s Countries of Gumbaynggirr and Walbunja Yuin.
A nationally accredited trainer and assessor, Patricia has set up and worked in various community-based organisations, bringing a heavy focus on compliance. A highlight of her career was speaking at the United Nations in both New York and Geneva on issues affecting Aboriginal people.
In addition to serving as a North Coast Councillor on the NSW Aboriginal Land Council, Patricia is Co-Presiding Member of the Aboriginal Cultural and Heritage Advisory Committee NSW; Co-Chair of the Commonwealth Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Council; and Co-Chair of the Cultural Heritage Council Australia/New Zealand.
Keith Morgan
Director for Central South Eastern Region
Keith is a proud grandfather and father.
He has several qualifications including a master degree in Indigenous health, diploma in Aboriginal health and community development, certificates in business management and business planning, and a trade certificate in carpentry and joinery.
Keith served as the last ATSIC Chairperson for the Queanbeyan region and has been on numerous Aboriginal committees.
Tamika Murphy
Director for Central South Eastern Region
Biography and photo coming soon
Uncle Hewitt Whyman
Director for Western Region
Born in Deniliquin, Uncle Hewitt’s mother’s Country is Yorta Yorta and his father’s Country is Wemba Wemba.
He has worked in Koori communities at a grassroots level and has been a representative on many government agencies for more than 40 years, after a proud army career in his early adulthood. Uncle Hewitt was a longstanding ALS staff member before his retirement in 2013 and was responsible for establishing the ALS offices in Wagga Wagga and Griffith. He went on to hold the positions of Field Officer, Zone Manager and relieving Chief Executive Officer.
In 2003, Uncle Hewitt won the Aboriginal Justice Award from the Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, recognising his outstanding commitment to improving access to justice for Aboriginal peoples. He was also awarded NAIDOC Aboriginal Person of the Year Wagga Wagga in 2000.
Peter Stapleton
Honorary Director
Peter is a solicitor who has been associated with the ALS since the 1970s.
As one of the first ALS volunteers, he helped observe and document police harassment and brutality against Aboriginal people on the streets of Redfern. He served on the first ALS Management Committee and assisted the organisation in various capacities while working as a Partner in a leading Australian law firm over the following 50 years.
Peter is the only non-Indigenous Director of the ALS, appointed to the Board as an Honorary Director due to his significant contributions to the fight for justice. In 2006 he was awarded the Justice Medal by the Law and Justice Foundation of NSW.