Eastern Division General Manager, Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation

Krystal Perkins is an Arunta and Nyamal women and comes from an Aboriginal family who has been actively involved in advancing the socio-political plight of First Nations communities, youth and women over the course of the past 30 plus years. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Media & Communications), and is currently completing a Masters of International Relations. Her career spans over 20 years as a Business and Corporate Affairs and Policy leader working in the Telecommunications, Media, Professional Services, and Government Sectors. Krystal has also proudly served with the Royal Australian Air Force as an officer for a period of five years and is currently a reservist.

In 2006 she was appointed the Head of Marketing and Corporate Affairs for National Indigenous TV LTD and was responsible for establishing and launching the first 24/7 Television service for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders via Free to Air and Pay TV services in 2007.

In 2014-16 she joined the Telstra Marketing Division in a key Senior Leadership role in Business Marketing, and later joined the Corporate Affairs team to lead Telstra’s Social and Digital Inclusion programs. In 2017 Krystal was seconded to Indonesia as part of the Leadership team to head up the Marketing, Sales and Corporate Affairs Division to grow a new Joint Venture Technology company established between Telstra and Indonesia’s Telkom. In 2020, Telkomtelstra celebrated its 5th year, and is now a $200m company.

Krystal then returned to Australia to take up the position of the Head of Marketing for Defence Force Recruiting in 2018, responsible for national recruitment and marketing campaigns on behalf of the Australian Defence Force. In 2019, Krystal appointed to the Royal Australian Air Force as an officer to lead and deliver Diversity and Inclusion strategies, programs, and policies to increase recruitment and retention outcomes for women and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

Serving now as a reservist, Krystal is a Senior Indigenous advisor to the Air Force and is also responsible for delivering Air Force community engagement programs, and Aviation motivation programs, to support candidates in aviation training and career pathways within the ADF.

In her roles outside of the ADF, she was previously the Chief Marketing Officer at Austrade, and lead for the First Nations Trade and Investment strategies, a Senior Executive at the National Indigenous Affairs Agency, delivering Policy and Program outcomes to Close the Gap, and is now the General Manager of Program Delivery for the Eastern Division at the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation.