10 questions with… Taylah Pearce

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Warami (Hello) Taylah Pearce.

Taylah is a proud Dharug woman from the Buruberongal language group and the Aboriginal Student Engagement Team Leader at Walanga Muru.

She has been employed at Macquarie for six years in a number of roles that have combined her interests in Aboriginal education, Dharug dhalang (language) and marketing.

Taylah grew up on Darkinjung Country on the Central Coast. Before her journey brought her to Macquarie, she completed a Bachelor of Business (majoring in Marketing and Management) in 2016 and she has recently obtained her Master of Business Administration, specialising in Marketing.

Here at Macquarie, Taylah works in a passionate team that engages with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, both current and prospective, as well as University-wide to embed Dharug culture, language and stories across campus. In practical terms this sees Taylah involved with providing expertise to campus signage and building naming across campus, designing artwork in new buildings and providing Dharug-specific information, stories and experiences in our Manawari Aboriginal Cultural Safety Training debrief sessions.

Taylah also runs engagement activities, events and programs for current Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students including tutoring, cultural workshops, and a weekly community lunch on the Jannawi pavilion outside the Walanga Muru offices. The pavilion is named Jannawi (the ‘J’ is pronounced as a ‘Y’) which means ‘for me, for you’ in Dharug dhalang.


1. Something you’d like staff to know about
I would love everyone to know more about Walanga Muru. We’re not only the student centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but also the office that facilitates all the University activities set out in the Macquarie University Indigenous Strategy 2016-2025. If you haven’t seen this strategy document, I encourage all staff to have a look and find out more about what we’re about and what we’re trying to achieve.

Our offices are located on campus at 6 First Walk and we welcome visitors any time! Or reach out at walangamuruadmin@mq.edu.au if you’d like to know more ­or connect.

2. Something you feel proud of
Being the first in my family to not only finish high school but then also go to university.

3. A person you admire at Macquarie, and why
I think Dr Leanne Holt is pretty deadly. She is the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Indigenous Strategy and has unlocked many opportunities for me, empowering me to be a strong Aboriginal woman leader. I will be forever grateful.

4. What you need to do your best work
It is really important to me to have Aboriginal culture, concepts and inclusiveness embedded in my work, so it is consistent across my personal and professional life.

5. Something people usually ask you when they find out what you do for living
Everyone says ‘Oh that must be such a rewarding job’ – and they aren’t wrong.

6. The first person you go to for advice (and why)
My mum – from anything about what degrees to set the oven when cooking, to what house I should buy  – mum is my go-to.

7. A website or app you can’t live without (and why)
Walking Darug Country is an awesome app, free to download and relevant to Macquarie University. Check out this TECHE article published about it a few years ago (but still relevant!). Links to download the app for iPhone and Android are included at end of the article.

8. Where you live and what you like about living there
I live on the Central Coast and love it; I love being close to beaches and family.

9. A personal quality you value in others
Respect. I think everything is bound by respect and it is the foundation to all aspects of life including relationships, friendships and trust.

10. I’m happiest when…
I am with my partner, friends and family.


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Circles of the Sun
The background artwork to the feature image above is Circles of the Sun, created by Dharug woman and Macquarie University alumni, Professor Liz Cameron. The artwork is a representation of warmth and healing within Dharug Country. The sun rising illustrates a new day to our cyclic seasonal calendar, its rays of light reflecting on the eucalyptus trees over the water, which brings about a cascade of oils that reflect many colours of the rainbow.

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