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Eleanor Bourke, nee Anderson, formerly Koumalatsos
Born 29 March 1943, Hamilton, Victoria
Married to Colin Bourke
Two children: Sia and Kelly
Descendant of the Wergaia and Wamba Wamba people of Western Victoria.

Eleanor and her family moved to Murraydale, near Swan Hill, Victoria in 1945. She attended primary and high school in rural Victoria.

Education; Dip Arts Journalism (RMIT), BA Writing (CCAE), MEdStud (Adelaide) currently PhD Candidate, University of Adelaide.

Eleanor's paid work includes policy concerning Aboriginal people in both the Victorian and Commonwealth governments and academia.

Positions held include: Associate Professor in Indigenous Affairs and the Director of the Aboriginal Research Institute, Faculty of the Aboriginal and Islander Studies, University of South Australia and Professor of Australian Indigenous Studies at Monash University . Eleanor is currently an Adjunct Professor with the Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies at Monash University.

Member of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Family Law Council and the National Aboriginal Consultative Committee. Fellow of the Australian College of Education.

Her work in community-based organisations included the Victorian Aboriginal Advancement League, the Victorian Aboriginal Education Consultative Group and Camp Jungai Cooperative Ltd. Eleanor is currently working with the Department of Human Services in Victorian and VicHealth on Aborignal community development projects.

Eleanor and her husband have semi retired from academic life having purchased a farm, Huleigh, on the Western Highway in the Victorian Wimmera, where they run sheep and grow cereal crops beside Mt William Creek. Both Eleanor's daughters are engaged in Aboriginal affairs, Sia working with Aboriginal Hostels Limited and, Kelly, a wellknown Victorian artist specializing in possum skin cloaks.

Sources: Aboriginal Women by Degrees. Mary Ann Bin-Sallik, Ed. University of Queensland Press, Queensland, 2000.