Professor Gaye Sculthorpe

Professor Gaye Sculthorpe is Research Professor, Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies, in the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, at Deakin University, Melbourne. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Menzies Australia Institute at King's.

Her work is focused on researching Australian Indigenous collections in global museums and seeking ways for relevant communities to engage with them. Prior to her appointment to Deakin University in 2022, she worked for almost ten years as Curator and Section Head, Oceania, at The British Museum, in the Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas.

Her work has received various prestigious recognitions including: Indigenous Alumna of the Year by the Australian National University in 2017, the award for Global Impact at the 2022 Global Australians Award, and the International Council of Museums Australia’s Award for an outstanding individual contribution to International Engagement, also in 2022.

Gaye has also served as a Member of the National Native Title Tribunal, as a Member of the Australian Heritage Council and a Council Member of the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. She currently serves as a member of the Aboriginal Advisory Council of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and as a Trustee of the National Gallery of Victoria.

Born and raised in Tasmania as a member of the Palawa community, she is a descendant of famous Aboriginal songstress Fanny Smith whose wax cylinder recordings form part of the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Register. She has qualifications in anthropology, history, museum studies and Aboriginal Studies from the Australian National University, the University of Sydney, and La Trobe University.