Lance Riley was born at Mona Mona Aboriginal Reserve in North Queensland. When he was separated from his family at the age of five, Riley was taken to Mona Mona Mission and later sent to Palm Island. Riley is an Elder of the Kuku Yalanji language area and tribal clan group Wulburra (Western Yalanji). Riley has served as Regional Councillor for ATSIC and Manager of Mayi Wunba Cultural Dance Theatre.
Riley's story was recorded by the National Library of Australia for the Bringing Them Home oral history project and appeared in the associated publication Many Voices: Reflections on experiences of Indigenous child separation, edited by Doreen Mellor and Anna Haebich (2002).
