Celebrating our colleagues: Renee Johnson

Renee Johnson, Manager, Wirltu Yarlu Aboriginal Education, Indigenous Education Branch  

I was in the original Adelaide Roller Derby league team in 2007. Some say that roller derby is the next closet thing to flying: it’s white-knuckle exciting. I used to go to Downtown on Hindley St and the Rollerdrome at Hindmarsh to roller skate when I was a kid and, well I wasn’t great at it, but I went along to the first Roller Derby training night, and was hooked in after that experience. It was just great, and a really good time of my life.  

Sport teaches you a lot of lessons that are transferable to your personal and professional life. Being involved in roller derby shaped my ideas around community, friendship, leadership, planning, respect, being a guide, having to give the bad news, and to feel the win or the loss. Each of those skills have been important to me in my work.  

I’ve been the Manager of Wirltu Yarlu since March this year, but acting in the role since October 2022 and at the University for around five years. I’ve really enjoyed the flexibility of working at the Uni, and being able to take up various secondment opportunities that have arisen. The University’s different business areas and faculties that incorporate and support Indigenous employment have enabled me to grow my career.  

Places like Wirltu Yarlu exist in universities to create pathways, access and opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to study or work in a higher education setting. From a big-picture perspective, we’re all responsible for engaging with and recruiting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as well as providing support to students during their time here at the University of Adelaide. 

You can’t just sit around and let your life happen, you actually have to be responsible for taking charge and creating a path. That’s why Wirltu Yarlu is so important: young and old can come here and we can have a yarn about their pathways and their career, and we can show them where the opportunities might be.

We bring connections, a place to come to, a space to be in, and our staff can model how opportunities can positively change lives. Aboriginal kids are asking themselves “How do I fit in as an Aboriginal person, and how do I connect to my culture?” so we’re here to give guidance, provide information and share stories about some of their options, because being Aboriginal is something to be super proud of. 

This year, Wirltu Yarlu has gone through a period of resetting. We’ve been focussed on building our team, and looking at ways to better engage, support, and participate in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student and staff success … and I’m a part of that in this exciting time. But while we’re looking forward, I also often take a moment to look back and think about all of the previous Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have come through the University, right from the start of CASM, through to the Yaitya Purruna Indigenous Health Unit and all the other areas that contributed to the success of Wirltu Yarlu, and where we are today all stems from the work of previous leaders, elders, and community whose resilience, strength and perseverance have given me the opportunity to work at the University. I’m here because of those who came before me.

Our team, and all the new people who have joined the Indigenous Branch bring varying backgrounds, skill sets, levels of experience, and cultural knowledge and we’re looking forward to sharing that. Equally, at the end of the year, it’s going to be nice to sit back and celebrate what has been a lot of exciting change. And for me personally, it’s been rewarding because I’ve been learning the whole way through.  

I’m a bit of a Frankenstein of all the past managers I’ve had, and all the Elders and all the aunties and uncles I’ve spent time with, and I’m trying to pull all of those experiences together to be the best person I can be and the best manager I can be … but if I’m not the best, that’s OK, right? We’re only human, and being respectful and working with integrity are the most important values to have, on a basic level. 

It brings me back to roller derby: you had a captain and you had a team and because of the captain, everyone knew what they were doing and what the strategy was. People need and appreciate support and direction. My philosophy is to be the best human you can be, and have a go, because we’re only here for a short time.  

Story by Dr Simon Behenna, Internal Communications Coordinator

Photography by Isaac Freeman, Communications Assistant