David Faulkner

Director of School Performance Barkly Region Northern Territory

David Faulkner is the Director of School Performance in the Barkly Region (Northern Territory) leading 18 schools across the largest and one of the most remote educational regions in Australia. A Principal at 24, David has been a Principal for 7 years in Western Australia spending his time in rural and remote locations with a real passion for making a difference for Indigenous students. David has headed some of the most challenging schooling environments in the country with some outstanding results, including a transformation of his most recent school Halls Creek District High School, which gained positive state and national attention for its many innovations. During his time as a Principal David has been recognised with awards such as WA Young Leader of the Year (2003), WA Young Person of the Year (2003) and in 2004 was named Young West Australian of the Year by the National Australia Day Council. In 2008 David was named Non-Aboriginal Person of the Year for his recent work in the Kimberley. David has a strong belief that passionate, innovative teachers and leaders have the ability to transform the lives of young people and he takes the opportunity in his work to motivate people to be MAD (Make a Difference).