Dr. Patrick Sullivan graduated with first class honours in SE Asian Studies and Social and Political Theory in 1980 and began work in areas of Australian Aboriginal development in 1983. He was awarded a PhD in Anthropology in 1991. His numerous field studies and placements within indigenous organisations have involved practical research and advice on issues of land use and distribution, community control of community development, and governance institutions at the local and regional levels. He worked on native title claims following the High Court Mabo decision in 1992 and has been the Senior Anthropologist for the Kimberley Land Council formulating anthropological and policy advice on local, national and international projects. From 2002 to 2012 he was a Research Fellow, and Senior Research Fellow, in Indigenous Regional Organisation, Governance and Public Policy at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. He is currently Associate Professor Research at the Nulungu Research Institute (Broome) and is an Adjunct Professor at the National Centre for Indigenous Studies (ANU). He is the author of numerous scholarly articles and practical reports. His book Belonging Together: Dealing with the Politics of Disenchantment in Australian Indigenous Policy was published by Aboriginal Studies Press (Canberra) in October 2011.