Kyana is Wardaman women from the Katherine rivers regions of the NT and the Wagadagam clan of Mabuiag Island in the Torres Strait Islands. Kyana is a social work practitioner, researcher and sessional academic with a clinical background in paediatrics primary health care, education and community settings. She joins the Kirby Institute with a Bachelor of Social Work (Honours) and a Master of Development Studies. Kyana’s work is deeply informed by her cultural knowledge, lived experience, and commitment to self-determination and equitable living outcomes for First Nations people. Her practice is guided by human rights and social justice values, and her research interests lie at the intersections of health, development, policy, and human rights. Specifically, focusing on the rights of women and children, the rights of Indigenous peoples in Australia, and how these rights are experienced in practice.