Aurora Education Foundation Strengthens Indigenous-led Governance with New Board Chair

The Aurora Education Foundation (Aurora) has appointed Yuin man Timothy (Tim) Goodwin as its new Board Chair, commencing Thursday 27 November 2025.

Tim is an established barrister and Board Director, with a breadth of experience in the not-for-profit sector and for statutory authorities. With expertise in commercial and public law, Tim has long focused on advancing the rights of First Nations peoples, including his work on the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory.

Tim is no stranger to Aurora, having been an Aurora intern in 2006 working at the Central Land Council, before becoming a Roberta Sykes Scholar in 2011, where he completed a Master of Laws at Harvard Law School. During this time, Tim saw the power of Aboriginal people to own and control their land, the myriad of social, economic, political and cultural challenges those groups faced to be successful, and the impact of supporting students across their entire education journey.

Tim joined the Aurora Board in 2023. He steps into the role of Chair at a time of new momentum for the organisation, as the Board strengthens its alumni, policy, data and high school programs to drive reform and improve outcomes for Indigenous students.

On his appointment, Tim says: “I am so excited to continue Aurora’s important work and build on the legacy of outgoing Chair Charles Prouse, who leaves Aurora stronger both culturally and organisationally. Over the coming years, our focus will be on allowing Indigenous excellence to flourish. We will work to unlock this capacity, to use what we know and what we’ve learnt, and to participate in and advocate for the transformation of systems”.

“I look forward to continue working with an amazing Board, our phenomenal and inspiring leader, Leila Smith, and her executive team made up of a powerhouse of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people”.

Aurora’s CEO, Wiradjuri woman Leila Smith, says: “I’m so pleased to welcome Tim as our Board Chair. He brings wisdom and care with the kind of mind and heart that lifts everyone around him. He understands how individual success can build collective strength, and I’m looking forward to what we’ll achieve together and the impact we’ll keep making in community”

Tim will replace the outgoing Chair, Nyikina man Charles Prouse, who has been Aurora’s first Indigenous Chair, and integral to Aurora’s evolution as an Indigenous organisation.