Katelyn Barney

Katelyn Barney is an Associate Professor in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit and affiliated with the School of Music. Katelyn is also Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Principal Practitioner in the Institute for Teaching and Learning Innovation. Her teaching has been recognised through a UQ Teaching Excellence Award with her colleague Professor Tracey Bunda for their innovative and inclusive co-teaching approach, developing the podcast Indigenising Curriculum in Practice and embedding storying in teaching.

In 2025 she is co-leading a number of projects with Indigenous colleagues including exploring staff and student perspectives of Indigenised curriculum with Professor Tracey Bunda and examining the role of music in sustaining Indigenous languages with Professor Anita Heiss and Deline Briscoe. Katelyn is also working with Professor Bronwyn Fredericks and colleagues across three universities to explore the links between pathway programs and university completion which builds on their previous ACSES-funded project on improving completion rates for Indigenous tertiary students.

Her edited book Musical Collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous People in Australia: Exchanges in the Third Space received the Ellen Koskoff Edited Volume Prize. She has previously held an Equity Fellowship with the Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success (formerly NCSEHE) and has developed a range of resources on evaluating programs for Indigenous students. She is an Australian Learning and Teaching Fellow and also the Managing Editor of The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education.