'Archival records are so powerful': Phyllis Williams

Phyllis Williams is Director of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Engagement with the National Archives of Australia. On her father’s side, she is Gummulkbun, with ancestral lands in West Arnhem Land, and on her mother’s side, Larrakia Kulumbirrigin, with ancestral lands in Darwin and on the Cox Peninsula. She joined the National Archives in 1996.
Phyllis became an archivist because she wanted to help First Nations peoples searching for connections about themselves. These people may have been removed from their families, as children or teenagers, and haven’t been able to find the connection back.
Rebuilding those connections can change lives. Phyllis wants to be part of that.
This story is featured in National Archives's exhibition Disrupt, persist, invent: Australians in an ever-changing world. See more: www.naa.gov.au/visit-us/event...