Leslie Baird

Father Leslie Baird is an Aboriginal leader with over 30 years’ experience strengthening community wellbeing through education, research, and grassroots empowerment. Holding a Master of Indigenous Health from the University of Sydney, he has dedicated his career to building Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, supporting men’s groups, and serving as a respected church leader. For more than 25 years, he has been at the forefront of Family Wellbeing (FWB) training and research, co-authoring numerous papers and reports, including landmark work on Aboriginal suicide prevention. His enduring commitment to translating research into practice is now focused through his role as Associate Professor at the Jawun Research Institute, Central Queensland University, where he co-leads a major philanthropic project on FWB research translation and impact.