Born in Brisbane, Kate Auty is a graduate of the University of Melbourne (Arts (Hons)/Law), Monash University (Masters in Environmental Science), and La Trobe University (PhD in Law and Legal Studies). She has worked as a lawyer for the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service and the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia); as lecturer and project coordinator in the Graduate Certificate in Environment and Heritage Interpretation at the Institute of Koori Education, Deakin University, as a barrister (Victoria) and as a magistrate (Victoria (Koori Court) and Western Australia). (Source: Fremantle Press website)