26 July, 2022

26 July 2022

A New CEO for the NSW Aboriginal Land Council

The elected Council of the NSW Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) is pleased to announce, after a lengthy and extensive recruitment process, Mr Yuseph Deen as the peak body’s Chief Executive Officer on a three-year term.

Yuseph is a descendant of the Wuthathi peoples, with customary family connections to the Gunggandji peoples, as well as ancestral connections to the near Western Islands of the Torres Strait.

Yuseph has extensive experience and leadership working across the NSW Land Rights network and has been NSWALC’s acting CEO since June 2021. Prior, Yuseph was NSWALC’s Executive Director of Network and Program Delivery, which included the establishment of the Yarpa Indigenous Business and Employment Hub during its crucial setup phase. He has also served as NSWALC’s Southern Zone Director overseeing support for a network of 34 Local Aboriginal Land Councils.

In addition to his time at NSWALC, Yuseph brings to the role 25 years of experience working with First Nations People to secure and protect Rights, Land, Culture and Heritage as well as Natural Resource Management and Community Development with the North Queensland Land Council, the Indigenous Land Corporation, Lumbu Indigenous Community Foundation and the Western Cape Communities Trust.

Yuseph is committed to building on our ongoing work of increasing the Aboriginal Estate through land claims and negotiated Aboriginal Land Agreements and expanding economic opportunities for Aboriginal people through land activation.

The Council congratulates Yuseph and looks forward to working with him as we implement our new Strategic Plan 2022-2026, which is available here.