CQUniversity Rockhampton student and staff member Sherry-Kaye Savage will soon be wearing a third hat as one of six Australian delegates selected to attend the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York, as part of the Global Voices Initiative...

Sherry-Kaye has already travelled to Canberra for a pre-departure briefing in Parliament House, which occurred alongside the turmoil of now infamous Crean leadership spill.

Sherry-Kaye Savage checks her itinerary for the United Nations forum in New York

Before the politicians were distracted, she was part of a group of Global Voices delegates briefed by a range of politicians including Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and Labor's Kevin Rudd. There was also time for afternoon tea with the Governor-General at Government House.

The Canberra visit include mentorship for Sherry-Kaye's chosen specialty research topic for the Forum - mapping the disparity in health and mortality rates between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in relation to type 2 diabetes and its link to cardiac and renal issues.

There's a natural affinity for a health topic as Sherry-Kaye graduated from a Human Movements degree and is now enrolled in Physiotherapy at CQUniversity.

The keen student juggles her study with employment as the University's Indigenous Widening Participation Officer. In this role she can draw on her family heritage encompassing Aboriginal, Torrest Strait Islander and South Sea Islander backgrounds.

While looking forward to two weeks of official forums at the United Nations in New York, Sherry-Kaye is also planning a few days off to enjoy the Big Apple in summer as she will be there between May 18-June 2.

She has previously visited New York on the way to and from an overseas student exchange experience at the University of Windsor in Canada, thanks to an Indigenous Youth Leadership Program (IYLP).

* More details about the forum are available via http://www.globalvoices.org.au/ Another CQUniversity student - PhD candidate Megan Star - has been selected to attend the Global Voices Nairobi Study Tour on Sustainable Development from June 22 to July 1 in Kenya.