Susan Moylan-Coombs
Susan Moylan-Coombs is the newly appointed Executive Producer of ABC Television's Indigenous Programs Unit, a department established in 1987 for the production and purchasing of programmes that explore Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues.
Having only just returned to the ABC in the middle of last year after taking an 8-year break to concentrate on family, Susan re-joined the Indigenous Programs Unit as Series Producer of Message Stick, one of the department's long running programs.
Susan joined the ABC in 1987, clocking up a solid 12 years as a Producer/Director within the Aboriginal Programs Unit, travelling the country meeting and working with diverse groups of Aboriginal people and communities as well as producing and directing mainstream programs.
During her time at the ABC, Susan was a reporter/director for Blackout, Series Producer for Kam Yan, a multi-camera director for the first StompEm Ground, and a producer/director for mainstream titles such as Qantum, Review, and Play School.
It was while working in the Aboriginal Programs Unit that Susan proposed the name change to "Indigenous Programs Unit", to be inclusive of Torres Strait Islanders.
Susan also worked for a number of years within the NSW State Department of Education & Training as an Institute Co-Coordinator creating identified and mainstream courses as well as facilitating the "Aboriginal Families" Workshop for the "Parents as Teachers" Conference. She has delivered Aboriginal Cultural Awareness Programs for the Department of Women and for Community Colleges and regularly speaks to schools, community and Reconciliation groups, local government councils and regional, state, and national conferences.
The numerous committees to which she has contributed, demonstrate Susan's service to the community, which she was recognised for in 2003 when she was a recipient of a Centenary Medal, Citation: For service to the community through the Guringai Regional Festival.
Susan has held such positions as the Chairperson for Manly Council's Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Committee, Chairperson and Creator for the Guringai Festival, Secretary for the Guringai Local Aboriginal Education Consultative Group and committee member for Northern Sydney Executive Aboriginal Child Youth Family Strategy, Department of Community Services Aboriginal Advisory Committee, Northern Sydney Network Aboriginal Education Committee, and the Northern Sydney Area Health Aboriginal Advisory Committee.
Born Susan Calma in Darwin, Australia, Susan is a proud Aboriginal woman born of Gurindji heritage on her father's side and an Aboriginal mother whose ancestry is unknown due to the policy of removal of children today known as the Stolen Generation. Herself taken away at birth as part of the same policy, Susan has had to come to terms with growing up within a European family away from her culture and heritage.
"Being Aboriginal is who you are, it is innate, it is not something that you learn, it comes from within", says Moylan-Coombs. "An inner knowing is what has kept me strong all this time. Spirit is what has kept me going".
Adopted at the age of three to the eldest son of one of Australia's iconic public servants, Dr H.C "Nugget" Coombs, Susan shared a special relationship with a man who is affectionately known as "Dhumbal Bapa" by the Aboriginal people of Arnhem Land meaning "short grandfather". She is also the cousin of Mr Tom Calma, Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Human Rights & Equal Opportunities Commission.
An advocate of rights and social justice for Indigenous Australians, Susan has followed in her adopted grandfather and cousin's footsteps to carve the same path of justice within the community in which she lives. She is a mother of two, James and Jennifer, and works to create a better future for them to inherit.
What a reconciled Australia looks like to me.
The fact that I have to imagine what it might look like is a sad state of being.
The Australia that I want for my children to inherit is one that recognises them as Aboriginal people with no subtext attached to that. I want for them to have life experiences that are positive, exciting, productive and fulfilling as human beings as well as being Aboriginal Australians.
A reconciled Australia might be a place, in the future, that recognises all people who live upon this landscape and treats them with respect, decency and valued members of society. It will embrace the ancestral lineage of the many different Aboriginal countries and Torres Strait Islands and aspire to create peace and harmony for the many different people who call Australia home.
Susan Moylan-Coombs
