Jefa Greenaway is an architect, interior designer, academic, director of Greenaway Architects and co-founder | Chair of Indigenous Architecture and Design Victoria (IADV), Australia’s only Indigenous design association. He is proud of his Wailwan | Kamilaroi (northwest NSW) and German heritage, and is a highly respected Aboriginal leader who believes that architecture can act as a conduit for Indigenous communities to explore cultural expression and identity through meaningful design action.

His work has been both awarded and published in numerous publications including Bauwelt, Houses, Architectural Review and Belle and he is a regular design commentator on ABC Radio Melbourne, as well as being a Founding Signatory of Architects Declare Australia, an initiative foregrounding architecture’s role in to tackling the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss.

He obtained a Bachelor of Planning & Design and Bachelor of Architecture (Honours) at the University of Melbourne. He is a registered architect in both NSW and Victoria and seeks to reveal layers of history and memory through connections to place, demonstrating the value of people-centred design which interrogates one’s own philosophical or ethical underpinning and design responsibilities.

Jefa was a recipient of the AIA National Emerging architect prize - the Dulux Study and the Inaugural Stormtech Scholarship to the Glenn Murcutt International Master Class.

He was appointed an Honorary Senior Fellow, at Melbourne School of Design at the University of Melbourne (2013-17) and designed the award winning Ngarara Place at RMIT University, among many other projects. He also sits on the City of Melbourne’s Public Arts Advisory Panel.

Over two decades Jefa has championed Indigenous-led design thinking, particularly as a co-author of the International Indigenous Design Charter, as Regional Ambassador (Oceania) of INDIGO (International Indigenous Design Network) and sits on numerous boards that intersect with art, architecture and cultural heritage. His expertise in this sector will be greatly valued in his new role as co-creative director for Australia’s pavilion at the 2020 Venice Architecture Biennale.