Lisa Rae Jackson was born in Stanmore in 1959 and grew up in Revesby. Her father served in the Second World War and struggled with mental health issues and addictions. She was told her maternal grandmother was a "Maori princess", but later learned both maternal grandparents were Aboriginal. She is a WiradjuriKoori woman with connections to south western New South Wales and South Australia. Her family members also came from Wales and Scotland. Her parents divorced in the 1980s, but later got back together and planned to remarry, however her father died of asbestosis. Jackson Pulver ran away from home at age 14 to escape her abusive father. Aged 17, she went to BankstownTechnical College and took a nursing entrance course before undertaking hospital based training at Lidcombe Hospital. In 1991, she applied to study medicine at Sydney University. She graduated with a degree in public health, and was the first in her family to attend university. After becoming aware of her Aboriginal ancestry, she chose a career in Indigenous health. Jackson Pulver received a PhD in medicine from the University of Sydney in 2003, and is the first known Aboriginal person to have achieved this award. Her thesis was titled "An argument on culture safety in health service delivery: towards better health outcomes for Aboriginal people". She was a founding member of the University's Wokal Kangara Aboriginal Students Association.
Career
In 2003, Jackson Pulver became a lecturer in Aboriginal health at the University of New South Wales. She played a key role in the development of Muru Marri, a designated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health unit at UNSW and was the inaugural Chair of Aboriginal Health. She co-founded the Shalom Gamarada Scholarship Program at UNSW, which offers residential scholarship to indigenous students. Jackson Pulver was Pro Vice-Chancellor Engagement, Pro-Vice Chancellor Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership and Provost Parammatta South Campus at Western Sydney University. In October 2018, she was appointed Deputy Vice Chancellor, Indigenous Strategy and Services at the University of Sydney by Vice-Chancellor Michael Spence. Jackson Pulver is a member of the National Health and Medical Research Council's committee for Aboriginal Health and has also worked with the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Universities Australia. She has also been Deputy Chairperson for the Australian Health Minister's Advisory Council's National Advisory Group Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Information and Data, and a ministerial appointment to the Australian Statistical Advisory Council. In 2010, she was appointed a board member for the Lowitja Institute, Australia's national body dedicated to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research. In 2014, she spent a month as "Scientist in Residence" for NITV, SBS's indigenous news channel. Jackson Pulver joined the Royal Australian Air Force as a public health epidemiologist in the Specialist Reserve in 2004. She later became a specialist advisor to the Chief of Air Force and set up the RAAF's Directorate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs. She was involved in developing the RAAF's Indigenous Youth Program.
Awards and honours
Jackson Pulver was awarded for her contribution to cancer epidemiology by the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council and the Ministry of Science and Medical Research in 2005 and was awarded a Henry Stricker Community Honour for her outstanding service and contribution rendered with endeavours to make our society a better place in which to live in 2006. She received the Individual Partnership Award from the UNSW Research Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity in 2011. In 2011, Jackson Pulver was made a Member of the Order of Australia for "service to medical education, particularly through the Muru Marri Indigenous Health Unity at the University of New South Wales, and as a supported of educational opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people."
Personal life
Jackson Pulver met Mark Pulver, an electrical engineer and non-observant Jew who was a widower in 2001 and they later married. She began to attend the Newton synagogue and after falling pregnant, they decided they wanted their children to be Jewish, so she converted in 2004. She had a number of miscarriages and they did not have any children. She became president of Newtown Synagogue in 2010, the first female in the role. In 2017, she said no longer attended services, but celebrates Jewish festivals and keeps kosher. She said "For me, being Jewish is not contrary to my beliefs in spirituality as an Aboriginal woman." As of 2018, she was a member of Sydney's Great Synagogue. In the 1980s, Jackson Pulver was among environmental activists who tied themselves to trees to protest against the damming Tasmania's Franklin River, but she left the Australian Greens in 2011 when Marrickville Council passed a resolution to boycott, divest and sanction Israel in protest against the treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank.
