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Nancy Bates is a First Nations composer, writer, educator, and proudly Barkindji. With cultural ties to communities running the length of the Baarka, she is river woman living a multifaceted life, intertwining music, education, and advocacy to weaponise and resist the colonial continuum. From 2013 to 2017, Nancy completed a musical apprenticeship under the mentorship of renowned Song Man, Uncle Archie Roach. This experience has spurred her on to become a powerful presence both on stage, and off. Recognising her exceptional contributions to the music industry, Nancy Bates has been honoured as an Ambassador for the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). In 2022, Bates was awarded the Best Music Award Adelaide Fringe Festival, and in 2023 received the Adelaide Festival Centre's Critic's Choice Award and a Star on the Walk of Fame. Through the ‘Songs Inside’ film project, Nancy teaches ukulele and songwriting to women in prison, giving them voice, and freedom of expression within a colonial punishment system. As an educator, Nancy has extensive experience in facilitating Cultural Safety/ Indigenous Health topics at a primary, secondary and tertiary level. Nancy advocates for access and inclusion rights of First Nations People with disability, and in 2023, supported mob to tell their stories of Abuse Neglect and Exploitation to the Disability Royal Commission.