Prof. Christopher Lawrence

Professor Christopher Lawrence is a Noongar and his work focuses on Aboriginal health and wellbeing and technology researcher. He has a background in education and postgraduate research degrees with a Masters of Applied Epidemiology and a PhD in Indigenous health and lifestyle choices. Professor Lawrence has been a Chief Investigator on many research grants including an NHMRC Tripartite study exploring Indigenous Resilience in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. He was also the 2008-2009 Australian-American Fulbright Indigenous Scholarship recipient and studied at Harvard University. In 2016 Professor Lawrence was awarded an Australian Research Council grant to explore how technology can help close the gap. Professor Lawrence was the Head of the Centre for Indigenous Technology Research and Development in the School of Software at the University of Technology Sydney. Professor Lawerence is now the Director of Indigenous Space Innovation and Security Capabilities in the Faculty of Engineering. In 2026 he and his team were awarded an ARC Indigenous Discovery to explore cybersecurity amongst Indigenous people. Professor Lawrence is also the lead investigator on Soundsmile; a WA Govt Innovation Challenge with the Ear Science Institute Australia, co-designing technology for Aboriginal kids with hearing loss and mental health. Professor Lawrence also heads up the National Indigenous Space Academy at Monash University.