Professor Nareen Young is the Director for the Centre for Indigenous People and Work, Associate Dean, Indigenous Engagement and Leadership at the UTS Business School and Professor, Indigenous Policy (Indigenous Workforce Diversity) at the Jumbunna Institute. Nareen is one of Australia’s leading and most respected workplace diversity practitioners, thinkers and influencers. Nareen was first a trade union official and represented women’s employment interests on the executives of both the ACTU and Unions NSW during this time. She led and managed two Diversity peak bodies (Diversity Council Australia and NSW Working Women’s Centre), with enormous impact and success for nearly 15 years and was then Director and Employment Lead at a large Indigenous consulting firm for three years. She is an Aboriginal descendant from the Sydney area through the Fowler family.

First Nations first: tackling workplace diversity from its foundations
1 September 2025

First Nations people, especially women, continue to face racism at work. A more concerted approach to addressing discrimination, emphasising Indigenous experiences, can support people to have safe, respectful and inclusive workplaces.
Nareen Young, Joshua Gilbert and Tanya Hosch
Self-determining “Indigenous employment”
16 March 2023

Closing – and exceeding – the gap on Indigenous employment outcomes means addressing discrimination and breaking down barriers to achievement.
Nareen Young and Joshua Gilbert

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First Nations first: tackling workplace diversity from its foundations

Self-determining “Indigenous employment”

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