Tim Croft

Tim Croft serves as Professor of Practice: Indigenous Health at the University of Technology Sydney's Graduate School of Health within the Faculty of Health, a position he assumed in July 2023 as the first person to hold this specific professorship. He brings 25 years of extensive experience across public and private health sectors to his academic role.

His educational background includes:

• Masters of Public Health, Specialization in Aboriginal health and wellbeing (awarded with excellence), UNSW Sydney (2014-2015)
• Bachelor of Applied Science, Physiotherapy, University of Sydney (1994-1998)

Tim has custodial ties to the Gurindji, Malgnin and Mudpurra peoples of the Northern Territory, with additional Anglo-Australian, Irish, German and Chinese heritage. His late Father was a member of the Stolen Generations, which profoundly shaped his understanding of colonization's impact and the critical need for decolonizing and trauma-informed approaches in Indigenous health. He advocates that 'Solutions must be collaborative approaches, grounded in local (Aboriginal community) knowledge and be strengths-based' and emphasizes that curriculum development for health care workers 'must acknowledge the trauma of past and ongoing government policies'.

His research spans multiple dimensions of Indigenous health including men's health, child health, and public health initiatives with particular focus on trauma-informed approaches within the context of colonization, intergenerational trauma, and child removal policies. His recent publication examines anabolic-androgenic steroid use patterns among Australian adolescents with specific attention to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth, connecting these patterns to body image concerns and disordered eating behaviors.

His professional experience includes:

• Director of Aboriginal Health at South Eastern Sydney Local Health District (2016-2023)
• Practice Principal and Principal Physiotherapist (2005-2015)
• Physiotherapist in various public and private settings (1999-2005)