Cirrus@Austlit

Dr Chris Sarra has been principal of Cherbourg State School, Queensland, the first Aboriginal principal of the school.

Sarra was raised in Bundaberg, the youngest of ten children. He became principal of Cherbourg State School in 1998, and instituted the 'Strong and Smart' philosophy, seeking to radically improve student learning, attendance, and community involvement. Leaving Cherbourg in 2005, Sarra established the Indigenous Education Leadership Institute (2006), which was followed by the Stronger Smarter Institute; the latter was part of Queensland University of Technology from 2008 to 2013, and has been run as an independent not-for-profit organisation since late 2013.

In 2004, he was Queenslander of the Year. Other accolades include Australian of the Year, the Regional Local Hero Award for Queensland, and the Bulletin's list of smartest 100 people in Australia.

In 2018, Dr Chris Sarra, was appointed director-general of the Queensland Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships (DATSIP)