Noongar, Yamatji, Wongi man, Kenneth George Wyatt AM (b. 1952) is an Australian politician. He was born at Roelands Mission, in the southwest corner of Western Australia. Prior to entering politics, Wyatt worked in health and education; initially as a primary school teacher in the state system and then moving into leadership roles in Aboriginal education within the Department of Education in Western Australia, before becoming a Director of Aboriginal Health in both New South Wales and in Western Australia. In 2010, he became the first Indigenous Australian elected to the House of Representatives and the first to serve as a government minister, and the first appointed to cabinet. Wyatt was appointed Minister for Aged Care and Minister for Indigenous Health in the Turnbull Government in January 2017, after previously serving as an Assistant Minister since September 2015.
Wyatt was elevated to cabinet in May 2019 as Minister for Indigenous Australians, the first Indigenous person to hold the position. Wyatt received the Order of Australia in 1996 for his work in improving the quality of life for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and for his contributions to the fields of health and education.
Since leaving parliament following the loss of his seat of Hasluck, Western Australia in the 2022 federal election, Wyatt newly joined the newly convened Referendum Working Group, established by the new Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney, to collaborate with the government and guide the path to a Voice to Parliament.
