Vice-President, Indigenous Engagement

About the Vice-President, Indigenous Engagement 

The Vice-President of Indigenous Engagement leads CQUniversity’s Indigenous Engagement Division. The Division directs and influences strategic leadership on education delivery, community engagement and research related to Australian First Nations Peoples. The Division also delivers service and support to departments and divisions across the University’s national footprint on matters related to cultural competency, best practice engagement and reconciliation. 

Professor Adrian Miller is the Vice-President of CQUniversity’s Indigenous Engagement Division and leads a team of highly skilled academic, research and professional staff who are dedicated to advancing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander matters. The office does this by fostering collaborative, mutually beneficial interactions and through engagement with community partners to build capacity, advocate for First Nations contributions, and develop opportunities for beneficial research and education. 

Under Professor Miller’s leadership, the Indigenous Engagement Division is committed to guiding the University’s approach to higher education, vocational training, employment, research, and stakeholder engagement, while playing a pivotal role in strategy and policy development that impacts First Nations peoples.  

The Division is also driven by the principles within the University’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) and works with the University’s internal and external stakeholder communities to champion an inclusive approach to reconciliation. By encouraging all members of the University community to commit to and understand their responsibilities within the reconciliation process, the Division aspires to realise a greater understanding and appreciation of First Nations culture, knowledge and values.  

Professor Adrian Miller 

Professor Miller has strong leadership experience and a passion for achieving positive outcomes for Indigenous communities, including his own Jirrbal people in North Queensland. He was appointed to the role of CQUniversity’s Vice-President, Indigenous Engagement in 2024. Prior to this, Professor Miller served as the University’s Deputy Vice-President and BMA Chair in Indigenous Engagement for more than six years.  

Professor Miller’s leadership in Indigenous Engagement at CQUniversity has enabled the University to achieve several key milestones including the development and implementation of an Innovate Reconciliation Plan and the development of the University’s latest Stretch Reconciliation Action Plan. Professor Miller has also led the establishment and advancement of the Jawun Research Institute – strengthening CQUniversity’s capacity when it comes to delivering engaged, high impact, applied research that meets community priorities in health, well-being and preservation of culture through applying social justice principles of Indigenous sovereignty, engagement and leadership. 

Professor Miller was also responsible for the creation and growth of the Jilbay First Nations Research Higher Degree Academy. The Academy is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research-focused community of practice, and the first internally funded Academy of its kind for any Australian University. It aims to build the research capacity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Higher Degree (RHD) candidates and their supervisors by developing and undertaking Indigenous research projects and establishing partnerships in collaboration with other CQUniversity Schools, Research Centres, and Institutes. 

Further to this, Professor Miller also plays a central role in university governance as a member of the University’s Council and through the development of several strategies and guidelines. These have included the First Nations Education and Student Success Strategy 2024–2028, the First Nations Research Strategy 2023–2028, the First Nations Workforce Strategy 2020 – 2025, First Nations Cultural Competency Framework and the First Nations Community Engagement: Industry Guide – Phase 1. The resources have helped guide the University’s strategic direction when it comes to further embedding First Nations values and principles within university operations.  

Professor Miller has a professional background as an established Public Health scholar and is known nationally and internationally for his research and leadership in Indigenous and public health, infectious diseases, higher education and immunology. He has also been awarded over $30 million in competitive research grant funding throughout his career. 

He is regularly invited to peer review journal articles for a range of prestigious publications and his most recent national and international publications and outcomes have influenced national and state and national policy. His latest research published in the Nature journal will lead to novel vaccine development for new strains of influenza for global Indigenous populations.