June Oscar, a Bunuba woman and community leader from the Central Kimberley region of Western Australia, has spent much of her career helping to improve the health and welfare of Indigenous people, particularly those in remote areas.
Attorney General George Brandis says her long and distinguished history in Indigenous policy makes her the right person for the role.
" The office of Aboriginal and Torress Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner within the Human Rights Commission is a very very important element of the advocacy on behalf of Indigenous people which needs to contribute to the national discussion. It is a perch from which a person with the right skills, aptitude, talent and commitment - all of which June has - can intervene to get to the bottom of and solve the problems of those particular communities."
Ms Oscar is currently the chief executive of the Marninwarntikura Women's Resource Centre in Fitzroy Crossing in northern Australia.
Her experience in Indigenous policy spans across language revitalisation, native title, health, and women's issues.
But Senator Brandis says that, for him, one particular thing stood out in June's background.
" And that is the work that she has done in Indigenous remote communities to deal with the scourge of alcohol and the effects of alcohol abuse on women and children in those communities in particular"
Her work was instrumental in the successful community-led campaign to restrict the sale of full-strength takeaway alcohol in the Fitzroy Valley.
And she also played a role in the first study in Australia into the prevalence of Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.
Ms Oscar says it is an honour to be the first Indigenous woman to take up the five year appointment.
" I come to the position from working in community with people who are challenged with so many issues and in this role I believe that with partnerships with government and other stakeholders we can make some serious inroads into resolving and addressing with community, those challenges. "
June Oscar replaces Mick Gooda who resigned in order to serve as a Commissioner investigating the Northern Territory's youth justice system.
She takes up her role in April.
