Stacey Butcher

Stacey Louise Butcher is a proud Dunghutti woman, raised on Gomeroi Country, whose strong cultural foundations, family connections, and lived experience continue to shape her perspective and purpose. As the first in her family to complete high school, Stacey went on to put herself through both a nursing degree and a midwifery degree – an achievement that reflects her determination, resilience, and commitment to creating meaningful change for her community.

A Registered Nurse and Registered Midwife with more than 25 years of experience, Stacey has worked across New South Wales, the Northern Territory, and Queensland in diverse settings including tertiary hospitals, regional services, Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, private health systems, academia, and government. She has extensive expertise in Aboriginal maternal and infant health, community-based continuity of care models, culturally safe and trauma informed practice, and service development that strengthens outcomes for First Nations women, babies, and families.

Stacey has held influential leadership roles such as Clinical Midwifery Consultant and Nurse Midwife Manager for First Nations Workforce Development. In these positions, she has championed codesign, culturally grounded engagement, and multidisciplinary partnership to drive system level reform across maternity services. She continues this work today within the Office of the Chief Midwifery Officer in Brisbane, where she focuses on strengthening the First Nations midwifery workforce and embedding sustainable, culturally safe practices across Queensland’s health system.

Her academic contributions include serving as a Midwifery Lecturer and First Nations Academic Lead at Charles Darwin University, where she excelled in curriculum development, teaching, student mentorship, and research. Stacey is an award winning educator and an active contributor to national scholarship, publishing and presenting widely on cultural safety, midwifery education, and First Nations leadership in the maternity care sector.

As a PhD candidate, Stacey’s research centres on the First Nations midwifery workforce, with a focus on pathways, leadership, and long term sustainability. Her scholarly work complements her extensive clinical, community, and policy experience, positioning her as a respected leader advocating for evidence based, culturally responsive maternity care.

Family remains at the heart of Stacey’s life. She is deeply family oriented, married to her husband Luke, who is also a dedicated healthcare worker and together they are raising 3 children. Her lived experience as a mother, aunty, and community member continues to inspire her work and her commitment to improving outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, families, and communities.

• Bachelor of Nursing
• Postgraduate Diploma of Midwifery
• Masters of Midwifery
• Postgraduate of Healthcare Leadership
• Professional Certificate of Indigenous research 

• CATSINaM and ACM Midwifery Advisory Committee
• Member of the Indigenous Advisory Group Stillbirth CRE
• Member of The Leaders in Indigenous Nursing and Midwifery Education Network Advisory Committee
• Burnet Fellow 2024 and 2025
• Midwifery Futures Working Advisory Group Burnet Institute and NMBA
• CATSINaM National Conference 2024 and 2026 Scientific Committee member

• Nurse/midwife manager First Nations workforce development
• Adj Lecturer UniSQ School of Nursing and Midwifery 

• ACM Scholarship