AFL Chairman, Richard Goyder today announced that NT Indigenous leader Denise Bowden has been nominated to join the AFL Commission to replace Professor Helen Milroy, who has announced her retirement after five years on the Commission.
Ms Bowden, the CEO of the Yothu Yindi Foundation and long-time Garma Festival Director, would become the second Indigenous Commissioner appointed to the AFL Commission, behind Professor Milroy, after the League committed to adding an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representative to the game’s governing body in 2017.
Ms Bowden’s nomination is subject to formal endorsement at the AFL Annual General Meeting in March following the formal sign off by the eight-person AFL Nominations Committee consisting of club presidents and AFL commissioners. The AFL Nominations committee are tasked with identifying appropriate candidates for AFL Commission.
A descendant of the Tagalak people and born on Jawoyn country in the Northern Territory’s Katherine region, Ms Bowden will replace Dr Helen Milroy who will formally step aside at the March AGM.
Ms Bowden is the CEO of the not-for-profit Yothu Yindi Foundation where she has worked at the frontline of remote Indigenous communities in northeast Arnhem Land. Denise has worked on education reform policies, created education pathways for Yolngu people, and advocated for improved service delivery in disadvantaged and very remote communities as well as contributing to public policy.
Under her Directorship, the annual Garma Festival in Arnhem Land has grown from a small community gathering into an event of national significance on the Australian cultural and political calendar, bringing together representatives from across the political spectrum along with business, indigenous and community leaders.
Ms Bowden has a long family connection with the Richmond Football Club and, locally, with the Southern Districts Football Club in the AFLNT, where her son Michael is Premier league club Captain of the ‘Crocs’.
AFL Commission chairman Richard Goyder AO welcomed Ms Bowden to the Commission and paid tribute to the work of retiring commissioner Helen Milroy.
“Denise has demonstrated a long affinity with the game and now joins the commission at a time when the game is driving to increase participation of Indigenous boys and girls across the country,” Mr Goyder said.
"Denise will carry on the work from Helen who has been an incredible leader not only to our game but to the wider community through her significant impact and knowledge in the fields of mental health, medicine and education. We thank Helen for what she brought to football and, particularly, her support in the development of programs to improve the mental health of players at all levels of the game.”
Ms Bowden said she was looking forward to getting started and contributing to the game.
“I am honoured to be appointed and I look forward to adding value from a Northern Territory perspective but also to help the game grow right across the country,” Ms Bowden said.
“It is a proud moment for me personally and one I share with the wider Bowden family, who have been active generational participants in the game through the Richmond Football Club and their work in community.
“Watching the AFLW competition grow in strength has also been inspiring and one of my aims as a Commissioner will be to ensure we continue to drive the growth of the game at a grassroots, regional and remote level where it has such an impact on communities.”
