Professor Marcia Langton AO
Associate Provost and Foundation Chair of Australian Indigenous Studies
Professor Marcia Langton AO is a pioneering Indigenous scholar whose work has shaped the fields of anthropology, law, and Indigenous studies in Australia. From her groundbreaking research on Indigenous resource agreements to her advocacy for constitutional recognition, Professor Langton continues to lead the conversation on Indigenous rights and policy in Australia.
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Professor Marcia Langton AO, a proud member of the Yiman and Bidjara nations, is one of Australia’s foremost scholars and advocates for Indigenous rights and knowledge. As Associate Provost and Foundation Chair of Australian Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne, Professor Langton has become a leading voice in the academic and public spheres on matters of Indigenous culture, policy, and law.
With a career spanning decades, Professor Langton is recognised for her extensive research in anthropology and geography, with particular focus on political and legal anthropology, Aboriginal arts and culture. Her work has been instrumental in bridging the gap between Indigenous communities and the resource sector, with her major research projects investigating agreements, treaties, and negotiated settlements between Indigenous peoples and the mining industry. Her research on Alcohol Management Plans in remote Australia, land tenure, and Indigenous relationships with place has also been transformative, providing valuable insights into Indigenous governance and legal recognition.
Beyond academia, Professor Langton has significantly influenced policy through her involvement with the Empowered Communities project, a government initiative aimed at improving the lives of Indigenous Australians. She also played a key role in the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australians, contributing her expertise to one of the nation’s most important debates.
Professor Langton’s powerful contributions to public discourse include her acclaimed 2012 Boyer Lectures, titled The Quiet Revolution: Indigenous People and the Resources Boom, which addressed the challenges and opportunities that Indigenous communities face in the context of Australia’s mining industry. These lectures cemented her place as a respected public intellectual.
Her accolades are numerous. In 1993, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for her work in anthropology and advocacy for Aboriginal rights. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, a Fellow of Trinity College, Melbourne, and an Honorary Fellow of Emmanuel College at The University of Queensland. In recognition of her exceptional academic and policy contributions, Professor Langton was named a University of Melbourne Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor in 2016.
Professor Langton’s profound expertise and steadfast commitment to advancing Indigenous rights and scholarship continue to inspire positive change in Australia and globally.
