[1] Born in Healesville, Joy Murphy Wandin's family never left Wurundjeri land and she is the great-great niece to William Barak, the last traditional ngurungaeta of the Wurundjeri-willam clan.
Joy Murphy Wandin told the story of her father's enlistment, and subsequent dispossession and separation from family with the closure of Coranderrk, in 1923 in her Welcome to country speech when John Howard, as Australian Prime Minister, visited Healesville.
[5] In 2001, she collaborated with didgeridoo player Mark Atkins (musician) and composer Philip Glass in the concert work Voices, performed at the Melbourne Town Hall and New York's Lincoln Center.
[6] She was the creative artist for projects and lyricist for the Opening and Closing songs in the 2006 Commonwealth Games held in Melbourne through her consultancy business Jarlo Visions.
[1] In 2006 she was made an officer of the Order of Australia "for her service to the community, particularly the Aborigines, through significant contributions in the fields of social justice, land rights, equal opportunity, art and reconciliation".