Dr Cameron Raynes

Cameron graduated from the University of Western Australia in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours, 1st class) in Anthropology and Philosophy. After three years as a welfare worker, he embarked on a PhD in Anthropology at Charles Darwin University in the Northern Territory. Fieldwork on Ngamanbidji Station, an Aboriginal-owned cattle station in the western Victoria River region, was the basis for his thesis on the moral subtext of Aboriginal oral history. During his time as a PhD candidate, Cameron worked as a consultant anthropologist on Aboriginal site surveys and land claims in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. On moving to Adelaide in 1999, he worked for State Records of South Australia, then for a communications company, Ecocreative, while simultaneously establishing himself as a writer of history, short stories, film scripts and a novel, First Person Shooter, which was optioned by Factor30Films in 2017. Since 2010, Cameron has worked in various roles with the University of South Australia and is currently employed as Lecturer in UniSA Creative.

Rostrum: Secretary of the Port Adelaide Rostrum Club; Accredited Coach

Australian Writers’ Guild

Media Resource Centre

South Australian Writers' Centre

Asia Pacific Writers and Translators

Qualifications

• Doctor of Philosophy Charles Darwin University

Work history

Current

Lecturer, University of South Australia (since 2015)

Course coordinator, lecturer & tutor for various courses including HUMS 1034, COMM 1061, HUMS 2035 and ABT 27.

Committee member, Australian Short Story Festival (since 2016)

2010­–2014

Sessional academic, University of South Australia: Course coordinator, lecturer & tutor for various courses taught through DUCIER including Contemporary Aboriginal Issues; Aborigines, History and Colonialism; Cultural Perspectives on Health; and Segregation, Assimilation and Resistance.

Sole writer and developer (in 2012) for second-year history course, Segregation, Assimilation and Resistance; co-writer for third-year history courses Things that Matter, and History Workshop.

Workshop Presenter (2014), ‘Shape Your Story’ workshop, August 2014, for the South Australian Writers’ Centre.

Workshop Presenter (2013), ‘Engaging Stories’ workshop for the Salisbury Writers’ Festival.

Literature judge (2012): Co-judge of the Wakefield Prize, determining the best unpublished ms. by a South Australian writer.

Member, ArtsSA IMPP literature panel (2011–2013): Analysing, discussing and ranking literature projects as a peer review panellist for ArtsSA.

Scriptwriter, DUCIER Step 2010 Project, University of South Australia (2011–2012): Working on set and behind the scenes with academics, project manager, director, cameramen and actors to write and help produce a series of instructional short films on a variety of topics, including Aboriginal history, for DUCIER.

2006–09

Writer/editor, Ecocreative: Researching and writing user-friendly text for a range of ecological and scientific products aimed at the general public.

2005–07

Publisher/writer/editor, The Peninsula magazine: Sole publisher and creator of an informative, review-style community magazine for distribution in the Port Adelaide and Lefevre Peninsula area.

2003–05

Freelance writer and editorVarious projects, including researching and writing the annual report of State Records of South Australia.

2000–2002

Project officer (Aboriginal Access) and Policy Officer, State Records of South Australia: Building the Aboriginal Names Index, and researching and writing the administrative history of Aboriginal Affairs in South Australia, ‘A Little Flour and a Few Blankets’.

1993–1997

Consultant anthropologist/historian: Consultant anthropologist and historian on various projects for Aboriginal organisations including Windidda Station Native Title Project; Aboriginal Site Survey (Wiluna); Gregory National Park Site Survey (NT); Brumby Plains Land Claim; and Mistake Creek Land Claim.

1991–92

Community welfare worker: Providing welfare, justice and community building services to remote communities for the Department of Health and Community Services, Katherine, Northern Territory.

1988–1990

Graduate welfare officer: Providing welfare, justice and community building services to remote communities for the Department for Community Services, Meekatharra, Western Australia.