Ruth Austin Nina Bassat Gracia Baylor, - Her Place … · Ruth Austin Nina Bassat Gracia Baylor, AM...

2003

Ruth Austin

Nina Bassat

Gracia Baylor,

AM

The Hon

Justice Sally

Brown

Fanny

Brownbill

Marg D’Arcy

Linda Fenton

The Hon

Caroline Hogg

Varvara Athanasiou-

Ioannou

Betty Lawson (Stevenson)

Professor Nancy Millis, AC,

MBE

Brenda Murray, OAM

(Bich) Cam Nguyen

Thelma Prior

Professor Dimity Reed

Jodie Ryan

Jill Smith

Mavis Taylor

Katherine Teh -White

Margaret Wirrpunda

victorian honour roll of womenVol 3

2003victorian honour roll of women

ISBN 0 7311 1457 4

The Victorian Honour Roll of Women 2003 is aVictorian Government publication prepared by theOffice of Women’s Policy, Department for VictorianCommunities

© Copyright State of Victoria March 2003

This publication is copyright. No part may bereproduced by any process except in accordancewith the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968

Ruth Austin

Nina Bassat

Gracia Baylor,

AM

The Hon

Justice Sally

Brown

Fanny

Brownbill

Marg D’Arcy

Linda Fenton

The Hon

Caroline Hogg

Varvara

Athanasiou-Ioannou

Betty Lawson

(Stevenson)

Professor Nancy

Millis, AC, MBE

Brenda Murray, OAM

(Bich) Cam Nguyen

Thelma Prior


Jodie Ryan

Jill Smith

Mavis Taylor


Margaret Wirrpunda

I am delighted to present the stories ofthe 20 remarkable women who havebeen added to the Victorian Honour Rollof Women in 2003.

The inaugural Honour Roll, launched in2001 as part of Victoria’s Centenary ofFederation Women Shaping the Nationevent, recognised the contributions ofwomen from all walks of life.

Again this year, we illustrate thediversity of Victorian women, their skills,strengths, determination and courage.

They come from many sections of thecommunity, representing the arts,women’s and children’s health,government, community, the law andsocial justice.

They are women who have contributedsignificantly not only to the growth of theVictorian community generally, but also tobettering the lives of other women, bothat home in their own communities aswell as overseas.

Their generosity of spirit, their ingenuityand their dedication have marked themfor special mention.

The Victorian Government is committed tohonouring the role of women through theon going initiative of the Victorian HonourRoll of Women. It is a tribute not only tothose who have been named, but towomen everywhere and the contributionsthey make every day of their lives.

HON MARY DELAHUNTY, MPMinister for Women’s Affairs

introduction

1

Vol 3


Ruth Austin 4

Nina Bassat 5

Gracia Baylor, AM 6

The Hon Justice Sally Brown 7

Fanny Brownbill 8

Marg D’Arcy 9

Linda Fenton 10

The Hon Caroline Hogg 11

Varvara Athanasiou-Ioannou 12

Betty Lawson (Stevenson) 13

Professor Nancy Millis, AC, MBE 14

Brenda Murray, OAM 15

(Bich) Cam Nguyen 16

Thelma Prior 17

Professor Dimity Reed 18

Jodie Ryan 19

Jill Smith 20

Mavis Taylor 21

Katherine Teh-White 22

Margaret Wirrpunda 23

Contents

2

2003

Ruth Austin

Nina Bassat

Gracia Baylor,

AM

The Hon

Justice Sally

Brown

Fanny

Brownbill

Marg D’Arcy

Linda Fenton

The Hon

Caroline Hogg

Varvara Athanasiou-

Ioannou

Betty Lawson (Stevenson)

Professor Nancy Millis, AC,

MBE

Brenda Murray, OAM

(Bich) Cam Nguyen

Thelma Prior


Jodie Ryan

Jill Smith

Mavis Taylor


Margaret Wirrpunda

victorian honour roll of womenVol 3

biographies


Infant Welfare SisterFor 28 years, Ruth Austin was an InfantWelfare Sister for the North-East Victoriantownships of Bright, Myrtleford and MtBeauty. In that time she cared for morethan 7000 newborn babies, many childrenof newly arrived migrants. Her support and care for mothers and their babies was invaluable.

Born in Leongatha in Gippsland in 1922,Ruth trained as a nurse at Prince Henry’sHospital in Melbourne during World War II.She then went to Sydney to the KingGeorge VI Hospital to complete herobstetrics qualification.

After the war, Ruth went to New Zealandwhere there was a shortage of trainednurses and worked in several provincialhospitals.

In 1953, Ruth and her twin sister Marysailed to England and for the next twoyears they both nursed in the UK and inMontreal, Canada.

Back home, Ruth completed her infantwelfare training on a bursary at the QueenElizabeth Hospital for Mothers and Babies inCarlton. In return for the bursary, she hadto work for one year and the options wereeither Cranbourne in Melbourne’s outer-eastor Bright in north-east Victoria.

Ruth chose Bright in the Alpine Shire.Initially, she worked in temporaryfacilities at the Mt Beauty Medical Centreand later at the Guide Hall before apermanent Infant Welfare Centre wasbuilt in the town in 1964. New centreswere also opened in Myrtleford in 1959and Bright in 1964. The Shire’scommunity grew with the arrival ofmigrant workers for the Kiewa HydroElectricity Scheme and the tobacco farmsaround Myrtleford.

Ruth travelled extensively throughout theShire, operating weekly clinics in threetownships. Many mothers spoke little orno English and Ruth was always supportiveand responsive to their needs and mademany house calls.

During her nearly three decades of service, hearing tests were introduced andimmunisation became widespread. Sheimparted new ideas and knowledge intothe community, including the introductionof the contraceptive pill for women.

Ruth was concerned about the lack ofcommunity facilities for old and frail people and helped to instigate theCommunity Welfare Association, which was instrumental in providing meals-on-wheels. She also helped to establish theSenior Citizens Club rooms in Bright.

Sister Ruth Austin made a lastingcontribution to the women, children andfamilies of the Alpine Shire community.

In a small rural community like the North-East Alpine area, someone like Ruth is an inspiration and a life force.

“I’ve had a sense of satisfaction and pridein infant welfare service in three towns and their surrounding areas,” she says.

ruth austin

4

Ruth Austin

Nina Bassat

Gracia Baylor,

AM

The Hon

Justice Sally

Brown

Fanny

Brownbill

Marg D’Arcy

Linda Fenton

The Hon

Caroline Hogg

Varvara

Athanasiou-Ioannou

Betty Lawson

(Stevenson)

Professor Nancy

Millis, AC, MBE

Brenda Murray, OAM

(Bich) Cam Nguyen

Thelma Prior


Jodie Ryan

Jill Smith

Mavis Taylor


Margaret Wirrpunda

Jewish leader Nina Bassat is a prominent leader inVictoria’s Jewish community. She was thefirst woman to head the JewishCommunity Council of Victoria and thesecond woman to be President of theExecutive Council of Australian Jewry.

Born in Lwow, Poland in 1939, Nina andher mother survived the Holocaust andcame to Australia in 1949 as refugeesafter two years in a displaced person’scamp in Germany. They settled inMelbourne.

Nina studied arts and law at theUniversity of Melbourne, married and had three children. In 1980 she startedher own legal practice.

For 20 years Nina has been on theNational Council of Jewish Women Victoriaand served as its Vice-President from1984-1995.

As head of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria in 1996, she initiatedthe Taskforce for Jews from the formerSoviet Union, established the DemographyCommittee, which produced the currentdemographic study of the Jewishcommunity in Victoria, and set up Noar, ayouth group for dealing with the problemof street parties.

Since the mid 1980s Nina has also beenon the National Council of Jewish Womenof Australia and has chaired theConstitution Committee, the OverseasJewry Committee and the Anti Semitismand Racism Committee.

She is on the Executive Council ofAustralian Jewry, the official electedorganisation and authority of theAustralian Jewish Community, serving as its second woman President from1998-2001.

As President, Nina set up the NationalRestitution hotline to deal with allrestitution enquiries and facilitatedrestitution claims. She led a leadershipmission to Israel in January 2000.

In 2002, Nina was invited to be a boardmember of the Monash University Centrefor Jewish Civilisation Foundation.

In 2001, Nina was made the honorarypatron of the 16th Maccabean Team inrecognition of her ‘outstandingcontribution in assisting victims of thebridge tragedy at the XV Maccabiah inIsrael in July 1997’.

In 2000, the National Council of JewishWomen of Australia presented her withthe Woman of Achievement Award.

Nina is very low key and self-effacingabout her achievements and leadership roles.

“The fact is that 1.5 million Jewishchildren died in the Holocaust. Those that are left have had to assume somelevel of responsibility.

“People have asked me to becomeinvolved and do things and really therearen’t a lot of us to turn to, I just couldn’tsay no.”

nina bassat

5



Women’s affairs, LocalGovernment,Victorian Memberof ParliamentGracia Baylor was the first womanPresident of the Shire of Healesville nowYarra Ranges Shire Council and one of the first two women to be elected to the Victorian Legislative Council. She hasplayed a leading role in the Victorian andAustralian National Council of Women,helped to establish the Queen VictoriaWomen’s Centre and has been involvedwith many issues facing women.

Gracia Baylor was born in Brisbane in 1931.During the war her father was in the airforce so the family moved to Victoria andthey also spent some time in Hobart.

In 1950 she completed a Diploma of FineArts at the National Gallery Arts School inMelbourne and afterwards did a teachertraining course. Gracia taught at secondaryschools and after marrying, worked as alaw clerk and manager of one of herhusband’s three law practices.

Gracia developed her interest in localpolitics from her concern for the need for akindergarten in Healesville where she livedand worked. She was elected to theHealesville Shire council in 1966 and

served as Shire President from 1977-78. At the time she was the first female Shire President in Victoria.

From 1973-76, she was President of theAustralian Local Government Women’sAssociation and actively supported andencouraged women to stand for localgovernment.

In March 1979 she was one of the first two women to be elected to the VictorianLegislative Council as the member forBoronia. Gracia resigned from this seat in 1985 to contest the lower house seat of Warrandyte, but was unsuccessful.

As an MP, Gracia was instrumental inhelping to save the main building on theQueen Victoria Hospital site by persuadingfellow Upper House colleagues to blocklegislation to sell this piece of Crown landto developers. The building became theQueen Victoria Women’s Centre (QVWC), a focal point of reference for women toaccess services and facilities. In 1995, she became a Trustee of the QVWC.

For many years, Gracia has been an activeleader of women’s organisations, includingPresident of the National Council of Women(NCW) of Victoria 1990-93 and President ofNCW Australia 1997-2000.

She has helped to prepare manysubmissions to government on issuesconcerning women’s health, migration,education, nutrition and environment.

In 1999, Gracia was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in recognitionof her services to Parliament and women’saffairs. She is a member of two FederalGovernment Advisory Committees.

As a mature age student, Gracia went backto study and in 1992 gained a Bachelor ofArts from Deakin University.

Gracia firmly believes that women shouldhave equal status to men.

“I’ve always believed in equality ... thatwomen should have equal opportunity toshare in the decision-making processes of the nation at any level, whether it be parliamentary, corporate, or at the local level.”

gracia baylor, am

6

Ruth Austin

Nina Bassat

Gracia Baylor,

AM

The Hon

Justice Sally

Brown

Fanny

Brownbill

Marg D’Arcy

Linda Fenton

The Hon

Caroline Hogg

Varvara

Athanasiou-Ioannou

Betty Lawson

(Stevenson)

Professor Nancy

Millis, AC, MBE

Brenda Murray, OAM

(Bich) Cam Nguyen

Thelma Prior


Jodie Ryan

Jill Smith

Mavis Taylor


Margaret Wirrpunda

First womanChief Magistrateof Victoria andFamily CourtJudgeAs Chief Magistrate, Sally Brown was thefirst woman to head a Victorian Court andsubsequently she was appointed a Judgeof the Family Court of Australia.

Her particular concerns are juvenile justiceissues, reform of the law relating tosexual assault and domestic violence andjudicial education.

Born in Melbourne in 1950, Sally Brownwas school captain of Mac RobertsonGirls’ High School and went on to theUniversity of Melbourne to study law and arts.

After completing her articles, she workedas a solicitor, lectured in law, started herown legal practice and became a barrister.

In 1985 she was appointed a Magistrate inVictoria, then Deputy Chief Magistrate in1987 before becoming Chief Magistrate in 1990.

Justice Brown was appointed a Judge ofthe Family Court of Australia in 1993. In2001 she was made the AdministrativeJudge of the Family Court for Victoria andTasmania.

Throughout her career, Justice Brown hasbeen committed to reforming the lawrelating to family violence and is Chair of the Victorian Family Violence ProtocolsCommittee.

She has been responsible for a number of significant judicial education initiativeswithin the Family Court, including theGender and Judicial AwarenessConference in 1994, the Equality andJustice Conference in 1995, the ViolenceConference in 1996, two AboriginalAwareness Conferences and thedevelopment and delivery of the firstthree national judicial orientationprograms conducted by the AustralianInstitute of Judicial Administration (AIJA).

Justice Brown is a member of a numberof Boards and Committees including theBoard of Management of the AustralianDrug Foundation, Patron of the QueenVictoria Women’s Centre Shilling Fund and she is on the Advisory Board of theGraduate Diploma in Dispute Resolutionand Judicial Administration at theUniversity of Melbourne.

Justice Brown has been invited to presentat several international conferences and in recognition of her services, the AIJA hasmade her an Honorary Life Member.

Justice Brown has made a significantcontribution to the practice of law and is held in high esteem by her peers. She has worked to break down thebarriers to equal participation in the law and to work towards a more openand inclusive system of justice and hasbeen at the forefront of judicial educationon social issues, particularly those relatingto gender.

7

the hon justice sally brown



Victoria’s firstwoman Labor MPFanny Brownbill held the LegislativeAssembly seat of Geelong for 10 yearsfrom 1938 until her death in 1948. At thetime, she was only the second Laborwoman to be elected to a State Parliamentin Australia.

In Parliamentary debates, Fanny raisedmany issues relating to the rights ofwomen, children and family. Her inauguralspeech to Parliament on 20 July 1938 wasagainst the ban on perambulators onsuburban trains in Melbourne.

Fanny was also a tireless worker for theGeelong community.

Fanny was born at Modewarre nearGeelong in 1890 and was educated at localstate schools. Her marriage to BillBrownbill in 1920 marked the start of herlong association with the Australian LaborParty. Bill was the Member for Geelong fora total of 15 years, first from 1920 to 1932and then from 1935 to 1938, when he diedin office. Fanny decided to stand for hisseat in the resultant by-election.

Fanny won the seat of Geelong in 1938 by more than 2000 votes despite stiffopposition, including a call by the thenFederal Treasurer, Richard Casey, thatparliament was no place for a woman.

She went on to hold the seat at the nextfour elections, sometimes unopposed - atestament to her popularity with the localelectorate.

As a committee member of the Old FolksHome and through her long association andwork with the Geelong and District Ladies’Benevolent Association, she gaveconsiderable support to elderly members ofthe Geelong community. She worked hardto assist elderly and deserving people toobtain the old-age pension.

Fanny was President of the MatthewFlinders Girls’ School Council and theGeelong and Western District OrphanageLadies Auxiliary and a member of theGeelong Young Women’s ChristianAssociation (YWCA).

In addition to her parliamentary duties and community work, Fanny was a Justiceof the Peace.

The Geelong City Council named a wardafter Fanny Brownbill in commemoration ofher contribution to Geelong and in honourof her achievements as a woman inVictorian Parliament.

When Fanny died, she was the only femaleMember of Parliament in Victoria. At herfuneral, thousands of people lined thestreets of Geelong as a mark of respect.

The Acting Leader of the Opposition at thetime of Fanny’s death, Mr L W Galvin MP,said that Fanny exemplified the Christianapproach to politics.

“Victoria will be the poorer for herpassing,” he said. “Women in particularhave lost an advocate to whom theyindeed owe much.”

fanny brownbill

8

Ruth Austin

Nina Bassat

Gracia Baylor,

AM

The Hon

Justice Sally

Brown

Fanny

Brownbill

Marg D’Arcy

Linda Fenton

The Hon

Caroline Hogg

Varvara

Athanasiou-Ioannou

Betty Lawson

(Stevenson)

Professor Nancy

Millis, AC, MBE

Brenda Murray, OAM

(Bich) Cam Nguyen

Thelma Prior


Jodie Ryan

Jill Smith

Mavis Taylor


Margaret Wirrpunda

Prevention ofviolence againstwomenFor the past 20 years Marg D’Arcy hasworked to develop and implement newand improved policies and methods ofsupporting and assisting women, while atthe same time empowering women whohave been abused by men.

Born in the western district town ofHamilton in 1950, Marg moved toMelbourne with her family as a teenagerand left school at 16. In her late 20s, she did a Bachelor of Arts at LatrobeUniversity and became interested infeminist politics.

In 1981, Marg started work at SouthernHalfway House, a women’s refuge inmetropolitan Melbourne. The experienceopened her eyes to the horrific violenceand harassment that some menperpetrate on a daily basis againstwomen.

Marg has been responsible for a hugevariety of projects and actions that haveset the agenda in the continuing struggleto reduce violence against women.

Marg was the coordinator of the SouthernHalfway House collective for two and halfyears. She then conducted an evaluationof Victorian women’s refuges for theVictorian Women’s Refuge Action Groupand coordinated the Women’s EmergencyServices Program for the Department ofCommunity Welfare.

Victoria Police employed Marg asCoordinator of the Family Violence ProjectOffice from 1988 until 1991 where shedeveloped policy and provided strategicadvice regarding the role of police infamily violence.

From 1991-93, she was the Women’sPolicy Officer for the Office of Corrections.

For four years (1993-97) Marg worked for the Victorian Community CouncilAgainst Violence during which timestalking legislation was introduced.

In 1998, Marg was a research officer atthe Centre Against Sexual Assault (CASAHouse) at the Royal Women’s Hospitalwhere she managed the Sexual AssaultIncidence and Prevalence Project.

Marg is currently Senior ProgramManager, Royal Women’s Hospital with responsibility for the management of CASA House and the statewide, after hours Sexual Assault Crisis Line. The services provide telephonecounselling, support, information andadvocacy, 24-hour crisis care and ongoingcounselling, support and advocacy forwomen and men following sexual assault.

Until November 2002 she was convenorof the National Association of ServicesAgainst Sexual Violence and a member of the board of the National Women’sJustice Coalition.

“My commitment is to work towards aworld where women can exercise theirright to live free from fear of violence,whether it is as victims of war and torture or whether it is in their homesor workplaces.” 9

marg d’arcy



Aboriginalcommunity leaderand mentor forIndigenous womenLinda Fenton was a great inspiration for thewomen of the Wamba Wamba people,many of whom suffered drug and alcohol,domestic violence and social isolationproblems.

Through her efforts to establish the WambaDagz sewing group, Linda developed andcreated a social, educational and culturalprogram for the Wamba Wamba women,giving them skills and helping them to take control of their lives.

She was also influential in the WambaWamba people’s development of a marketgarden and a commercial hydroponicfacility, enabling the community to becomeself-sufficient. Both enterprises providedimportant employment and educationalopportunities.

Linda Fenton was born in 1956 in SwanHill, where she went to school until Year10. At primary school Linda learnt balletdancing and gave many performances,then at high school she became acommitted Christian. After leaving schoolshe attended the Gnowangerup BibleCollege in Western Australia and returned

to Swan Hill to teach Sunday school. Shestarted up the Mirranjippa Dance Group andtaught Dreamtime dancing and balletdancing to local children and was also a pre-school teacher. She married herhusband Geoff in 1981, who was aSalvation Army pastor. They had threedaughters.

In the late 1980s she became involvedwith the Wamba Wamba Aboriginal LandCouncil, which occupies 40 acres oftraditional land on the banks of the MurrayRiver near Swan Hill on the NSW side ofthe river border and in 1993 was electedChairperson.

Linda Fenton worked constantly to improvethe welfare and the confidence of theWamba Wamba people.

As Chairperson of the Land Council, shehelped to establish two important andsuccessful initiatives for the Wamba Wamba people.

In 1992, Linda applied to ATSIC for a grantof $6000 to purchase sewing machines andmaterials and to employ a sewing teacher.Starting out in a tin shed at the back of ahouse, the Wamba Dagz sewing group hasover the years operated successful streetstalls selling their clothing, arts and craftsand is now a profitable small businessenterprise.

In mid 1995, under Linda’s leadership, theWamba Wamba Aboriginal Land Councilbuilt upon its successful 13-acre market garden and established a hydroponic facility that has become a role model forother Aboriginal Land Councils.

The Wamba Wamba people lost animportant community leader when Lindadied in February 2000. She is greatlymissed by her people.

In particular, Linda was an inspiration forthe women of the Wamba Wamba. Thesewing group is growing into a clothingbusiness, giving the women confidence and self-esteem. They now have a goal to achieve in business thanks to Linda’ssupport and vision.

Linda planted the seed for the WambaWamba women to bloom.

linda fenton

10

Ruth Austin

Nina Bassat

Gracia Baylor,

AM

The Hon

Justice Sally

Brown

Fanny

Brownbill

Marg D’Arcy

Linda Fenton

The Hon

Caroline Hogg

Varvara

Athanasiou-Ioannou

Betty Lawson

(Stevenson)

Professor Nancy

Millis, AC, MBE

Brenda Murray, OAM

(Bich) Cam Nguyen

Thelma Prior


Jodie Ryan

Jill Smith

Mavis Taylor


Margaret Wirrpunda

Victorian Memberof Parliament andsupporter ofsocial justiceissuesCaroline Hogg had a noted parliamentarycareer for 17 years. She championed arange of social justice initiatives and wascommitted to community development.Since retiring from Parliament in 1999,she has continued this commitmentthrough a range of voluntary positions.

Born in Somerset in England in 1942,Caroline and her Australian-born mothermoved to Australia in 1950. She went toschool and university in Adelaide, latermoving to Melbourne, where she taughtat Fitzroy High School for 15 years.

Caroline’s interest in politics was kindledin the turbulent 1960s, when she becameactively involved in demonstrationsagainst the Vietnam War and capitalpunishment. She joined the AustralianLabor Party in 1966.

For nine years from 1970 to 1979 shewas a councillor at the City of Collingwoodand its first woman mayor in 1978-79.

In 1982, Caroline stood for the VictorianParliamentary seat of Melbourne Northand was successfully elected and went on to become Victorian Labor’s longestserving woman MP.

In 1985, she was sworn in as Minister for Community Services in the CainGovernment and held that ministry until1987, when she moved to head theEducation portfolio.

In 1988, Caroline became Minister forEthnic Affairs. For two years from 1989

until 1991, she was Minister for Health.During that time, she worked to ensurethat Victoria had one of the bestprevention and support programs inAustralia for people with HIV.

She took on the demanding role ofMinister for Ethnic, Municipal andCommunity Affairs in January 1991 andheld the portfolio until the change ofGovernment in 1992, when Labormoved into Opposition.

From 1990-96 she was the DeputyLeader of the Labor Party in theLegislative Council.

Caroline then held various ShadowMinisterial positions when in Oppositionand was the ALP Whip in the LegislativeCouncil, when she retired in 1999.

In addition, Caroline made majorcontributions to a range of Parliamentaryand Cabinet committees, including theSocial Development Committee of Cabinet and the Rural Affairs Committeeof Cabinet.

Throughout her political career, Carolinemade many friends in the women’scommunity, including women fromculturally and linguistically diversebackgrounds and was well loved andrespected in the neighbourhood houseand rural women’s networks.

Since her retirement she has chaired the Ministerial Advisory Committee onWomen’s Health and Wellbeing and since July 2000 has been on the Board of beyondblue, the National DepressionInitiative.

"My commitment to public life wasunderpinned by a very strong desire tomake life better and fairer for people,"says Caroline.

the hon caroline hogg

11



Human resourcesconsultantpromoting aclimate ofinclusivenessSince her arrival in Australia 30 years ago, Varvara Athanasiou-Ioannou has been instrumental in the evolution ofmulticultural policy and has workedtowards changing the policy of assimilation to inclusiveness. She iscommitted to social justice and humanrights for migrant women refugees andother disadvantaged groups.

Born in Greece in 1953, Varvara immigratedto Australia when she was 19. She initiallydid a teaching diploma, then completed aBachelor of Education at La Trobe Universityand started a Masters in Education.

Varvara has a combined educational,consultancy and human resourcesbackground. She has worked extensively in the field of curriculum development,including writing, initiating andimplementing policy for the VictorianEducation Department dealing with culturalchange in schools introducing languageother than English (LOTE) frameworks.

She worked with the Ethnic EducationServices division of the EducationDepartment and wrote national curriculum

on teaching Greek from prep to Year 8.This was later translated into 16 otherlanguages.

In the mid 1980s, she taught andimplemented a new curriculum across the Coburg West Primary School.

Varvara has held senior consultancy andhuman resource management roles withEricsson Australia and Australia Post. Mostrecently she has been running AustraliaPost’s Get A Balanced Life Program and theWomen’s Information Network (WIN). Shehas also been a sessional lecturer atSwinburne University of Technology in theBachelor of Business program.

In 1996 Varvara was nominated by theGreek Orthodox Community of Melbourneand Victoria to represent women of Greekbackground from Oceania at theInternational Conference held in Greece bythe World Council of Hellenes Abroad.

In 1999 she was elected to the 11-memberboard of the World Committee for HellenicWomen Abroad.

Through the Cultural Association of Hellenic Women of Victoria, Varvara has been the founder of a unique anddynamic, non-profit initiative called ‘Food For Thought Network’ - a women’snetwork with a developmental focus in the areas of work, family, language,culture, health and wellbeing.

She was also on the Board of the RMITUniversity Course Advisory Committee for Logistics and Transport for three years.

Varvara’s work is based on diversityprinciples of inclusiveness for everyone.She creates opportunities and activelyremoves barriers to allow people tosucceed and is enormously energeticand dedicated. Varvara is a positive role model and mentor for many women,not just within the Greek community.

She has a passion for wanting to make adifference in the world.

varvara athanasiou-ioannou

12

Ruth Austin

Nina Bassat

Gracia Baylor,

AM

The Hon

Justice Sally

Brown

Fanny

Brownbill

Marg D’Arcy

Linda Fenton

The Hon

Caroline Hogg

Varvara

Athanasiou-Ioannou

Betty Lawson

(Stevenson)

Professor Nancy

Millis, AC, MBE

Brenda Murray, OAM

(Bich) Cam Nguyen

Thelma Prior


Jodie Ryan

Jill Smith

Mavis Taylor


Margaret Wirrpunda

First womanpresident of the TechnicalTeachersAssociation ofVictoriaBetty Lawson (formerly Stevenson)helped to form the Technical TeachersAssociation of Victoria (TTAV) in 1967and in 1968 was elected its first woman president. She was the first woman principal of a co-educationaltechnical school.

Born in Melbourne in 1920, Betty startedher teaching career in 1938 as a studentteacher at the Ellinbank state school inGippsland. She completed her TrainedPrimary Teachers’ Certificate in 1940 andlater earned a Commerce degree from theUniversity of Melbourne whilst teachingand also raising three children.

Betty joined the Victorian Teachers Union(VTU) in the late 1950s and joined theCouncil in 1961 as a representative ofMetropolitan Technical Women. At thetime she was a Class II Assistant atSandringham Technical School. Prior to that she taught at Box Hill Girls’Technical School.

In 1969 Betty was unsuccessful in herapplication for the position of principal ata co-educational technical school. Shewas refused the right to appeal on thegrounds that the position was notadvertised for women applicants. Withthe assistance of the TTAV, her right toappeal was upheld, a battle ensued andin the following year she finally won

the position of principal of the SunshineNorth Technical School. This opened upthe system for other women.

In 1967, Betty was one of a group oftechnical teacher members whoperceived a lack of representation inthe VTU. They formed the TechnicalTeachers Association of Victoria.

Betty served on the 1967 InterimCouncil as Vice President and thefollowing year, she stood uncontested for the President’s office. She was thefirst woman President of the TTAV andonly its second President. Betty chosenot to renominate the following year, butserved on the TTAV Council for the nextfour years. Betty was also President ofthe national body, the Technical TeachersAssociation of Australia.

In 1974, Betty was awarded lifemembership of the TTAV in recognition of her executive roles and contribution to the national organisation. She was thefirst woman member to be honoured lifemembership and was one of only sevenpeople in ten years to receive the honour.

Betty retired from teaching in 1975.

When Betty was awarded lifemembership of the TTAV, she wascommended for her leadership in manymatters, particularly concerning womentechnical teachers.

She says her goal was to achieve equalityand justice for women teachers and in the late 1960s she was involved with the campaign for equal pay for women in the workplace.

betty lawson (stevenson)

13



Pioneer in thestudy ofbiotechnologyin AustraliaThe contributions that Professor NancyMillis has made to agriculture, protection of the environment, science, medicine andengineering have been immense. Withouther leadership, genetic engineering wouldnot have flourished in Australia.

Born in the Melbourne suburb of Brightonin 1922, Nancy Millis was the fifth of sixchildren, whose enlightened parents madesure the family was well educated evenduring the Depression.

Her father’s ill health meant Nancy had to leave school at 16, but she went tonight school and matriculated and thenstudied Agricultural Science at theUniversity of Melbourne.

In 1948 she went to England to obtain herPhD at the University of Bristol and did herthesis on the fermentation of cider, herintroduction to industrial processtechnology.

On her return to Australia she wasappointed Lecturer in the MicrobiologyDepartment at the University of Melbourneand a Professor in 1982.

Nancy’s main leadership has been inthe introduction of genetic engineeringto the fledgling field of biotechnology inAustralia. The first course in biotechnologyat the University of Melbourne wastaught by Nancy to chemicalengineering students.

From 1980 to 2000, she chaired the Federal Government’s genetic engineeringsurveillance committees (RDMC and GMAC),which set up guidelines that have becomemodels for most of the South-East Asianregion.

Nancy Millis is also a leader in theenvironmental management field. She wasaware early of the importance of the purityof water and one of her main projects wasthe development of techniques to treatexcess or wastewater after industrial use.

Professor Millis has served on a wide rangeof committees and boards. Her integrity,persistence, forthrightness and the ability tocollaborate with others to achieve asuccessful outcome are some of heroutstanding characteristics. She has greatskill in determining the path science shouldtake and leads others to follow.

In 1992, Professor Millis was appointed thefirst woman Chancellor of La TrobeUniversity. She was Chair of the VictorianGovernment’s Water Strategy Committeethat advised on the supply and use ofwater for the Melbourne area.

In 1977, she became a Member of theBritish Empire (MBE) and in 1990 wasmade a Companion of the Order ofAustralia (AC). In 2002, Nancy and herwork was honoured and recognised bybeing part of the Australia Post LegendStamp series.

Nancy Millis is a person with the rarecombination of having scientific knowledge,industrial application and the ability toliaise with political, business, educationaland scientific workers not only in Australia,but worldwide.

Her knowledge and advice has beengreatly appreciated by her many studentsover four decades of lecturing and PhD supervision.

professor nancy millis, ac, mbe

14

Ruth Austin

Nina Bassat

Gracia Baylor,

AM

The Hon

Justice Sally

Brown

Fanny

Brownbill

Marg D’Arcy

Linda Fenton

The Hon

Caroline Hogg

Varvara

Athanasiou-Ioannou

Betty Lawson

(Stevenson)

Professor Nancy

Millis, AC, MBE

Brenda Murray, OAM

(Bich) Cam Nguyen

Thelma Prior


Jodie Ryan

Jill Smith

Mavis Taylor


Margaret Wirrpunda

Dedicatedcommunityworker and localgovernmentcouncillorBrenda Murray is recognised in her EastGippsland community has a tirelesscommunity worker, leader and instigatorof many important initiatives.

Born in London in 1930, Brenda wasevacuated from her Wimbledon home to Australia during World War II and livedin South Belgrave until the end of thewar. Back in England, she completedschool, but found it difficult to settle down and decided to return to Australia.

Brenda became a secondary schoolteacher, married and had three sons with her husband Keith. In 1960, theymoved to Orbost where she taught andwas headmistress of the Orbost SecondaryCollege and became an active memberof her community.

Brenda first became an elected localgovernment councillor in 1971 for theShire of Orbost, where she spent 17 yearson the council including three terms asShire President.

Brenda pulled together towns andcommunities heavily reliant on the timberindustry for their economic well being.They formed a body called Timber TownsVictoria, which aimed to speak with aunited, common voice and support thefuture of families whose livelihoods weredependent on the timber industry.

With the reintroduction of local councilelections in Victoria in 1997, Brendabecame Mayor of the newly formedEast Gippsland Shire, encompassing fiveprevious shires.

In 1979 Brenda was the foundingchairperson of the Orbost ContinuingCare Appeal, which raised money to buildan aged persons facility for Orbost. Shealso worked to provide facilities forpeople with a disability, as the foundingchairperson of the Merindah Day TrainingCentre now part of the Noweyung Centre.

In addition to her community welfarework, Brenda was the chairperson of theEast Gippsland Economic Developmentand Employment Committee establishedin 1986-87, which aimed to identify waysto improve the prosperity of the region.

She was a commissioner of the OrbostWater Trust and Sewerage Authority from1972 until 1980 and its chair from 1977-79, a period that oversaw the expansionof the water supply and provision ofsignificant new sewerage services.

She has been a Justice of the Peace formore than 24 years and was an honoraryprobation officer at Orbost before beingappointed as a JP.

In 1985, Brenda was awarded the Orderof Australia Medal (OAM) for services tothe community. After the severe 1998floods in East Gippsland, the Red Crossawarded Brenda the Red Cross Medal forMeritorious Services for her work as anemergency services liaison officer.

In her more than 40 years in EastGippsland, Brenda has been involved withmany cultural, community and sportinggroups and associations.

Brenda says she’s been fortunate to havemany wonderful opportunities after atumultuous childhood. She hates to seeinjustice and compassion is what fires herup. “You have to do your best to putsomething back into life all the time.” 15

brenda murray, oam



SupportingVietnamese andother migrantsand refugees tosettle in VictoriaCam Nguyen was instrumental inestablishing the Australian VietnameseWomen’s Welfare Association anddeveloping a wide range of services fornewly arrived migrants, principally fromVietnam, but also from Africa and otherAsian countries.

The range of services offered criticalsupport such as welfare, training, housing,media, research, sports, recreation,rehabilitation and employment.

Born in Vietnam in 1940, Cam arrived inAustralia as a refugee in 1975 with herhusband, Dr Nguyen Trieu Dan (previouslyVietnam’s Ambassador to Japan), and theirfour children, aged two to 11.

Cam completed a B.A. (Hons) degree at Cambridge University in 1962 and then a M.A. in 1966. She was fluent inEnglish and French but had no workexperience, so initially she worked as aclerk and an interpreter. Later Cam startedteaching French to children and English to adult migrants.

She did a Diploma in Education and aGraduate Diploma in EducationalAdministration while teaching at the AdultMigrant Education Services (AMES),becoming principal at the AMES Centre in St Albans in 1986.

At AMES, Cam played a pivotal role inlobbying the Federal Government toconstruct a purpose built education centrefor the very large and growing immigrantcommunity in the St Albans area in 1990.

In the summer of 1982 Cam’s concern fornew arrivals from Vietnam led her toapproach a number of Vietnameseprofessional women about forming awomen’s association dedicated to thewelfare, settlement and integration of theVietnamese community in Victoria.

The Australian Vietnamese Women’sWelfare Association (AVA) was formed inearly 1983 with Cam as the founder andinaugural president, a position she held for16 of the next 20 years.

From 1995 to 1998, Cam took on the full-time paid role as executive director of AVA during which time core staff wererecruited and trained and the AVAexperienced a quantum leap in the rangeof services provided. Cam succeeded inestablishing the AVA as an excellent notfor profit organisation with professionalstaff providing high quality services and inthe process making it the largestVietnamese community organisation inVictoria. Since 1998 she has again beenhonorary AVA president.

Thanks to her thorough understanding ofboth cultures, Cam has been able to act asa bridge between the Vietnamese andAustralian communities.

She has served on many committeesincluding the Implementation Committeefor the Establishment of the Independent & Multicultural Broadcasting Corporation(the precursor to SBS), the Victoria 150th Anniversary Committee, the Ethnic Communities Council and variouscommittees and taskforces for the VictorianEthnic Affairs Commission in the mid 1980s.

In 1986 the National Returned Servicemen’sLeague (RSL) awarded Cam the Anzac ofthe Year for distinguished service to fellowAustralians.

In 2002, she was made Ambassador by theCity of Yarra for services to residents.

Cam embodies the values of generosityand inclusiveness. She works not just forthe Vietnamese community, but for allAustralians, particularly new arrivals fromacross the globe. Her vision is for a caringand harmonious Australian society.

(bich) cam nguyen

16

Ruth Austin

Nina Bassat

Gracia Baylor,

AM

The Hon

Justice Sally

Brown

Fanny

Brownbill

Marg D’Arcy

Linda Fenton

The Hon

Caroline Hogg

Varvara

Athanasiou-Ioannou

Betty Lawson

(Stevenson)

Professor Nancy

Millis, AC, MBE

Brenda Murray, OAM

(Bich) Cam Nguyen

Thelma Prior


Jodie Ryan

Jill Smith

Mavis Taylor


Margaret Wirrpunda

Women’s rightscampaigner andunion shopstewardThroughout her life, Thelma Prior hascampaigned for the wellbeing of women,particularly factory workers.

At 14, she started work as an unskilledtextile worker and continued to work inthe industry for the next 47 years,campaigning for improved conditions.

Born in 1922 in Essendon, Thelmaattended the local state school. She leftin 1936 to start work at the Holeprooffactory in Brunswick.

At the young age of 15, Thelma waselected a shop steward and began herfight for better conditions and betterrights for all women workers.

In 1948, Thelma was sacked from her jobat Hilton Hosiery for campaigning for anincrease of 2/6d for junior wages. Shemoved to ICI Zips where she worked untilher retirement in 1983.

As elected shop steward, she campaignedon issues such as childcare, special leavefor women to care for sick children orcarry out other family responsibilities andunpaid maternity leave.

She also addressed issues affecting theincreasing number of migrant womenworkers and fought for English classes onthe job because she realised how difficultit was for these women with the doubledemands of work and family to attendclasses after work.

Thelma convinced ICI to offer the first-ever holiday care program for thechildren of factory workers.

Thelma attended the United NationsInternational Women’s Conference inMexico in 1975 and then went to theconference in Nairobi in 1985 where she met many valuable internationalcontacts.

Thelma retired from paid work in 1983and continued her union involvement bybecoming a volunteer with the Union ofAustralian Women (UAW).

In the late 1980s, she was a member of the Victorian Women’s ConsultativeCouncil and was involved with thecampaign to save part of the QueenVictoria Hospital for Women.

Thelma has played an important part in her local community and helped to set up a community health centre inDoncaster and Templestowe. She has been vocal in highlighting andsupporting environmental issues.

In 1991, Thelma was declaredManningham City Council’s Citizen of the Year in recognition of her work and commitment.

Thelma is a quiet and steadfast activistwhose tireless campaigning has made a great and lasting impact on everythingshe has been involved in.

She has a deep and abiding desire forworld peace spurred on since sheattended the United Nations World Peace Congress in Poland in 1950.

17

thelma prior



Architecture,public housingand urban design,women’s issuesand localgovernmentFor nearly 30 years, Dimity Reed has been involved with promoting the role ofarchitecture, planning and urban studies.As Commissioner of Housing in the late1970s and early 80s, Dimity offered newviews and approaches to old problems inpublic housing.

She also has a long-standing commitmentto women’s issues and was a foundingmember of the Family Planning Associationand the Childbirth Education Association.

Born in the New South Wales country town of Parkes in 1942, Dimity grew up in Melbourne. After her marriage endedshe returned to study architecture as amature-age student, juggling the demandsof study and raising her three youngchildren. She completed her Bachelor’sdegree at the University of Melbourne in1976 and in 1999 gained a Masters inArchitecture from RMIT.

From 1978-82, she was a Commissioner ofHousing in Victoria and later became theChief Executive Officer of the White PaperSecretariat on Public Housing in Victoria.

Dimity coordinated the Victorian pilotprogram and then the national Architecture

in Schools program, which aimed toestablish an understanding of our builtworld as part of the primary schoolcurriculum.

For four years she was Chairman ofDirectors of Archicentre, the home advisorydivision of the Royal Australian Institute ofArchitects (RAIA), which provides advice to homebuyers and renovators.

In 1984, Dimity became the first womanPresident of a State Chapter of the RAIA.She has received numerous awards fromthe RAIA.

Throughout her career, Dimity has run herown architectural and urban design andplanning practice.

In 1994, she was appointed Professor inUrban Design at RMIT University and since2001 has been Adjunct Professor.

For five years she was a part-time Memberof the Administrative Appeals Tribunal’sPlanning Division and for nearly 20 yearsshe has been the Chair or Member ofpanels hearing proposed amendments tolocal government planning schemes.

Dimity has also been active in localgovernment as an elected Councillor withthe City of St Kilda (1992-94) and as aCommissioner with the City of Moreland(1994-96) with particular interest inplanning and development issues.

For many years, Dimity has worked towardsimproving the educational employmentopportunities for young Victorian women.

For 22 years she was a Board Member of the YWCA and she is a Patron of the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre. She was a co-founder of the Association ofWomen in Architecture that for some yearsprovided support and encouragement towomen working in architecture.

Dimity is the City of Melbourne’sAmbassador for Architecture, a Trustee forthe Shrine of Remembrance and a boardmember of the Urban & Regional LandCorporation and Zoos Victoria.

Dimity Reed has had a long-standingcommitment to the roles that architecture,urban design and public housing serve inour society.

“How and what we build and how weshare our resources around reveal ourvalues as a society and the ideas that weengage with. They are the biography ofour time that we give to our children, sothey must be good,” she says.

professor dimity reed

18

Ruth Austin

Nina Bassat

Gracia Baylor,

AM

The Hon

Justice Sally

Brown

Fanny

Brownbill

Marg D’Arcy

Linda Fenton

The Hon

Caroline Hogg

Varvara

Athanasiou-Ioannou

Betty Lawson

(Stevenson)

Professor Nancy

Millis, AC, MBE

Brenda Murray, OAM

(Bich) Cam Nguyen

Thelma Prior


Jodie Ryan

Jill Smith

Mavis Taylor


Margaret Wirrpunda

Young IndigenousleaderJodie Ryan is a leader and role model foryoung Indigenous people across Ballaratand the Western Region of Victoria. Shehas represented Australian Indigenouspeople at a state, national andinternational level.

Jodie was born in Ballarat in 1975 andafter completing her secondary schoolingat Ballarat High School, she gained aBachelor of Commerce at the University of Ballarat in 1999. She is currentlycompleting the Certified PractisingAccountants (CPA) program.

Whilst studying at the University ofBallarat, Jodie was employed as theAboriginal Student Support andRecruitment Officer and during that period she successfully doubled thenumber of Indigenous students enrolled in higher education.

Jodie worked in the corporate businessworld as an accountant with Ernst &Young in Melbourne from 1999-2001.

Already at her young age Jodie hasreceived many honours and awards. In 1999, Jodie received the NAIDOC(National Aboriginal Islander DayObservance Committee) VictorianAboriginal Young Achiever of the YearAward. The previous year, she was afinalist in the Koori section of the VictorianOutstanding Student of the Year awardsfor the TAFE sector.

Jodie’s proudest achievement so far wasin 2002, when she went to Geneva as theAustralian youth representative to the

United National Work Group onIndigenous Populations. At this forum,she spoke on international standardssetting for Indigenous people.

In 2002, Jodie was elected to theTumbukka Regional Board of theAboriginal and Torres Strait IslandCommission (ATSIC) with a record number of votes and in the same yearshe became a member of the Universityof Ballarat Council.

Whilst at the University of Ballarat,Jodie developed a six-day orientation

and recruitment program aimed atintroducing Aboriginal students to furthereducation programs, which has beenrecognised by the CommonwealthDepartment for Education, Training andYouth Affairs as a best practice model.

Jodie is currently employed by theVictorian Department of Innovation,Industry and Regional Development as anAboriginal Business Development Officer,where she assists Indigenous individualsand community organisations to developbusiness ideas and concepts.

To build on her skills, in 2002 she attendeda leadership program at the AustralianIndigenous Leadership Centre in Darwin.

Jodie says she enjoys trying to make adifference to people’s lives.

“In my role as an Aboriginal StudentSupport and Recruitment Officer, I couldsee how positive opportunities can makesuch a difference to communities.Working in business development is sucha positive area: it’s possible to makepositive change for people to be moreself-determined.”

jodie ryan

19



AustraliantheatreadministratorFor more than 20 years, Jill Smith has been involved with promoting the arts,contemporary themes and Australianplaywrights through her work at thePlaybox Theatre and with government and arts funding bodies.

Born in Melbourne in 1948, Jill Smithstudied economics at Monash Universityand then completed a MBA at Monash andBath Universities. Her career was initiallyin the banking and finance sector.

In 1979, Jill followed a personal passionand made the leap into arts administration,becoming General Manager of the PlayboxTheatre Company in Melbourne.

When a fire devastated the Playboxbuilding in Exhibition Street in Melbourne’scentral business district, the future of thetheatre company looked bleak.

Jill set about the task of fundraising for a new contemporary theatre centre, at the same time maintaining the extensivetouring and Melbourne seasons of Playbox.

Funds were raised, sponsorship securedand the historic malting plant in SouthMelbourne was purchased and converted.The CUB Malthouse Theatre Complexofficially opened in 1990 - a long awaiteddream for the company to have its own home was realised.

The opening plays typified the Playbox’sapproach to contemporary Australiantheatre: 40 Lounge Café by Greek-Australianwriter Ted Lyssiotis and Robyn Archer’s Café Fledermaus - a bold Australian look atEuropean theatre. The opening season also included the premiere of renownedAustralian playwright Hannie Rayson’s Hotel Sorrento, which was subsequently made into a successful film.

Jill has supported and influenced thePlaybox Theatre’s policy of strong multi-culturalism with Timorese, Greek, Italian, Malaysian, Indonesian,Japanese, Koori, Vietnamese, Philippine and Chinese co-productions or themesextensively explored.

She has also played an important role inAustralian theatre by mentoring manysuccessful arts administrators who haveworked with her at the Playbox.

In 1992 she helped instigate Melbourne’sfirst Arts House, adjacent to the CUBMalthouse Complex, to house small artscompanies.

In 2002 the Ngargee building openedproviding a home for the Australian Centrefor Contemporary Art (ACCA) and Victoria’sflagship contemporary dance company,Chunky Move, with set construction andstorage facilities provided at the Playbox.

Jill has been a member of various state and federal government boards andcommittees including the Victorian Council of the Arts and the TheatreBoard/Performing Arts Board of theAustralia Council.

In 1995, Monash University recognised Jill’s achievements and inspirationalleadership with a Distinguished AlumniAward. The same year the AustraliaCouncil awarded her the inaugural (andonly) Arts Administration Fellowship.

She is a Trustee of the Victorian Actors’Benevolent Trust, a Director of StableProductions and a Member of the RexCramphorn Memorial Committee.

Jill Smith’s vision and determinationensured the growth and survival ofAustralia’s leading contemporary theatre -the Playbox. Thanks to her efforts Victoria has an outstanding arts complexfor contemporary performance and visual art.

She has given a generation of youngwriters and artists wonderful newopportunities, both here and overseas.

jill smith

20

Ruth Austin

Nina Bassat

Gracia Baylor,

AM

The Hon

Justice Sally

Brown

Fanny

Brownbill

Marg D’Arcy

Linda Fenton

The Hon

Caroline Hogg

Varvara

Athanasiou-Ioannou

Betty Lawson

(Stevenson)

Professor Nancy

Millis, AC, MBE

Brenda Murray, OAM

(Bich) Cam Nguyen

Thelma Prior


Jodie Ryan

Jill Smith

Mavis Taylor


Margaret Wirrpunda

Human rights and communityservice After a life time of caring for her largefamily and community service work, at 86 years of age Mavis Taylor was movedto do something for the people of EastTimor. Her work on the East Timor Projecthas given East Timorese womenemployment, hope and a sense ofidentity where previously there had beenonly heartache and despair.

Mavis was born in 1914 in the Melbournesuburb of Richmond and spent herchildhood in rural Tasmania. Her familymoved to Yarrawonga when she was 16.She married at a young age and had nine children.

Her husband suffered a debilitating stroke when he was 48 so Mavis took on the responsibility of helping to providefor them all. Her first retail foray wasopening a café. She then ran ahaberdashery store in Yarrawonga formore than 30 years.

Mavis, like many people, was appalled at the devastation in East Timor followingthe successful vote for nationalindependence. But instead of justthinking about helping the people of East Timor, she actually did somethingvery practical about it.

In 2000, she effectively packed up herhaberdashery store, loaded it intoshipping containers and headed to war-ravaged East Timor to establish a women’ssewing collective. Mavis had never beenoutside of Australia before.

Mavis was not deterred by difficulties andred tape and now there are 24 sewingcentres. Hundreds of East Timoresewomen are now gainfully employed andcountless others trained in sewing skills.With the help of other generousAustralians, Mavis has sent more than119 tonnes of donated household goodsto the people of East Timor.

Mavis is still not content to take things easy, to relax and spend moretime with her 27 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren and one great greatgrandchild. She continues to work for the East Timor Project and inspirationallymaintains a work ethic that people manyyears her junior would find impossible.

In 2001 she was the Victorian SeniorAchiever of the Year and in 2003 wasmade an official Australia Day Ambassador.

In recognition of her extraordinary work, Mavis was chosen as one of four‘Global Faces of Ageing’ at the UnitedNations Second World Assembly onAgeing in 2002.

A major stage play, Mavis Goes to Timor, has been produced about her EastTimor experiences, with performancesheld in capital cities across Australia.

Mavis is a wonderful role model foreveryone, especially for men and women living in their “Third Age”. She is propelled by real, genuine altruism.Mavis sets an example that no matterwhat our age or circumstance, we can still make a difference; we can becameengaged with the world around us.

“If the world is not a better place whenyou leave it, then you may as well nothave been here,” she says.

mavis taylor

21



Working againstsexual harassmentKatherine Teh-White is one of the 60% of women in Australia who have beensexually harassed in their workplace.However, she didn’t remain silent. The experience made her determined tohelp other women in the same situation.Katherine is the founder of Working AgainstSexual Harassment (WASH).

Born in Brisbane, Katherine grew-up inMalaysia until the age of six when herfamily moved to Melbourne.

She started an economics degree atuniversity, but switched to an arts degreewhen she successfully gained a cadetshipwith The Age newspaper where sheworked for five years before moving to The Australian.

Katherine has an arts degree in politics and communication from Deakin Universityand has undertaken post-graduate studiesat the Boston College for CorporateCitizenship.

Katherine knows from a personalperspective how unfair the workplaceculture and the law has been in the pastregarding sexual harassment. There wereno advocates for action, no women’sgroups that recognised it as an issue and no self-help groups.

When Katherine experienced sexualharassment in her workplace she pursuedaction under the Equal Opportunity Act1995 and sought to change the publicpolicy environment so that others didn’thave to face the same difficulties and fears.

She brought together a range of women’sgroups to found WASH, which hassuccessfully put the issue of sexualharassment on the public agenda.

WASH has called for the strengthening of legislation in Victoria, funding for anadvocate for sexual harassment victims and grass roots consultation with victims.WASH has joined with the Centre AgainstSexual Assault (CASA House) to create the first self-help group for sexualharassment survivors.

After working as a journalist and a strategic and policy adviser within theminerals industry, Katherine is nowmanaging director of Futureye, a networkof consultants which provides strategicadvice to corporations and governmentsacross the sustainability agenda, fromeconomics and trade to stakeholderengagement and diversity.

In 2000, Katherine won the Telstra Victorian Business Woman Award for the Private Sector.

She is a popular speaker on a range oforganisational change, social andenvironmental issues.

Katherine has been a strong force in the community, bringing together manywomen’s organisations to focus on an issue that had been largely swept underthe carpet.

Katherine was at the peak of her youngcareer when at 28 she encountered sexual harassment and victimisation in theworkplace. At first, she didn’t believe thather harasser could exert as much powerover her career as he did when sherejected his overtures, but she soon felt the effects.

“I was so angry, so upset and so shakenthat my career could tumble down on hisword, no matter how hard I had worked, no matter what I’d done. I just had to dosomething about it,” she says.

katherine teh-white

22

Ruth Austin

Nina Bassat

Gracia Baylor,

AM

The Hon

Justice Sally

Brown

Fanny

Brownbill

Marg D’Arcy

Linda Fenton

The Hon

Caroline Hogg

Varvara

Athanasiou-Ioannou

Betty Lawson

(Stevenson)

Professor Nancy

Millis, AC, MBE

Brenda Murray, OAM

(Bich) Cam Nguyen

Thelma Prior


Jodie Ryan

Jill Smith

Mavis Taylor


Margaret Wirrpunda

AboriginaladvancementMargaret Wirrpunda has contributedenormously to the development ofstate-based organisations involved with Aboriginal community development.She has worked long and hard for theadvancement of Indigenous people,particularly women and children and shehas been a strong voice for Aboriginalland rights.

Born in Cummeragunja in NSW in 1936,Margaret is a Yorta Yorta woman whospeaks fluent Gumatji as well as Yorta Yorta.

Her family has always been involved with supporting their community. Hermother was in the first Aboriginaldelegation to Canberra. Margaret learned at a young age how important it was to help those around her.

With her mother, Geraldine Briggs and aunt Margaret Tucker, Margaret as a young girl and teenager helped tofundraise for the Aboriginal AdvancementLeague. Together in the 1940s, the threewomen visited and had discussions with many Aboriginal communitymembers and families to identify how to improve their lives and worked toprovide a platform for Aboriginal womenand children.

From the mid-1960s, Margaret hasworked as a volunteer on the NationalCouncil of Aboriginal and Islander Women,serving for 10 years as its secretary. She was a co-founder of the VictorianAboriginal Legal Service and the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service.

In the mid-1970s Margaret became the first female director of the AboriginalAdvancement League (Vic) and was arepresentative on the National Women’sConsultative Council to the Prime Ministerand Commonwealth Government Cabinetduring the Hawke Government. She laterbecame the secretary and served asPresident. In addition, she has also beena member of the Victorian AboriginalAdvisory Committee to the Minister ofAboriginal Affairs Victoria in the 1970s.

In 1996, Margaret was elected to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait IslanderCommission for the East Melbourne ward.

Much of Margaret’s energy in the past few years has been focussed onAboriginal land rights as one of theplaintiffs in the Yorta Yorta land claim,which in 2002 was rejected by the High Court of Australia.

For many years she has been associatedwith the Worawa Aboriginal College, theonly independent residential school foryoung Aboriginals in Healesville, foundedby her sister Hyllus Maris. She has servedon the school’s council as president andvice-president.

Margaret feels that working to improvethe rights of Aboriginal Australians wasjust something she had to do. “It is partof our culture to help each other. Wehave to put out a hand to others whocan’t stand up for themselves.”

23

margaret wirrpunda



messages

Ruth AustinNina Bassat

Gracia Baylor,AM

The HonJustice Sally

BrownFanny

BrownbillMarg D’Arcy

Linda FentonThe Hon

Caroline HoggVarvara

Athanasiou-IoannouBetty Lawson

(Stevenson)Professor Nancy Millis,

AC, MBEBrenda Murray, OAM

(Bich) Cam NguyenThelma Prior

Professor Dimity Reed Jodie Ryan

Jill SmithMavis Taylor

Katherine Teh -WhiteMargaret Wirrpunda

victorianhonourroll ofwomen

2003

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