MaryAnn Bin-Sallik, an Australian Indigenous Djaru elder and academic, died on February 21, 2026, aged 85.
Born in Broome, Western Australia, on 2 November 1940, she moved with her family to Darwin at age nine. After training as a nursing sister at Darwin Hospital, she became the first Indigenous person to graduate there in 1961 and spent 17 years nursing in Aboriginal settlements in the Northern Territory.
In 1975, she was appointed student councillor to the Aboriginal Task Force Program at the South Australian Institute of Technology, becoming the first Indigenous Australian to work in the higher education sector. She later became coordinator of the program from 1980 to 1985 and was the first Indigenous Australian to gain a doctorate from Harvard University.
MaryAnn Bin-Sallik AO (2 November 1940 – 21 February 2026) was an Australian academic and Djaru elder who specialised in indigenous studies and culture. She was the first Indigenous Australian to gain a doctorate from Harvard University.