Dr. John Doolah is a proud Torres Strait Islander man, a Meriam-Samsep man of Meriam le and Erubam le, Eastern Torres Strait heritage. After leaving School in 1976 he joined his Dad on the Railways, worked in Rockhampton and Brisbane, before moving to NSW and worked in Sydney for private Railway contractors.

 

He joined the NSW Government railways and worked as a Ganger/Track Supervisor and constructed tracks, Turnouts and Crossovers, before embarking on Tertiary studies at the University of Newcastle NSW in 1991.  

John graduated with Double Degrees, and a Masters and PhD. His Masters Thesis is: “Decolonising the migration and urbanisation of Torres Strait Islanders (Ailan pipel) from the Torres Straits to mainland Australia between the 1960s and 1970s”. John continued his postgraduate migration studies with his PhD Thesis, “The stories behind the Torres Strait Islander migration myth: the journey of the sap/bethey.” 

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John was a course developer and coordinator for many years and lectured in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies at the University of Newcastle NSW. He is a Lecturer in Indigenous Education at the Faculty of Education and a Ngarrngga Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Melbourne. He taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses and is now in research and Graduate Research supervision. 

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John is a member of education groups at the University of Melbourne and since 2025 a member of the AIATSIS Ethics Committee. His general research interest is in the effect and impact of colonisation on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the homeland of Zenadth Kes and down South (mainland Australia).