Emily Kngwarreye

Few contemporary artists have so captured the public’s imagination as the late Emily Kame Kngwarreye (sometimes spelled Emily Kam Ngwarray). Born in about 1910 at Alhalkere near Utopia in Central Australia, Emily Kngwarreye first saw white people at the age of about nine. She worked as a stock hand on pastoral properties at a time when Aboriginal women were usually only employed as domestics on the stations and was a respected Eastern Anmatyerre senior Law woman. It is a testament to Emily’s extraordinary spirit and character that in the eight years before her death in 1996, she painted a remarkable 3000 paintings on canvas with an undiminished energy that belied her years. In a meteoric rise to fame she came to be internationally acclaimed as Australia’s most eminent female artist

In the history of contemporary Aboriginal art, the work of Emily Kngwarreye proved to be of profound significance. Kngwarreye started making art around the mid to late 1980s, her work has had a lasting impact on Australian art.

Pat O'Shane

Pat O'Shane was the first woman appointed permanent head of the New South Wales Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs in 1981, she became not only the first Aboriginal person but also the first woman to become a permanent head of ministry in Australia.

Patricia O'Shane was born in Northern Queensland in 1941. A noted activist for indigenous rights, her achievements in the public sphere have been remarkable. She was the first Aboriginal Australian Barrister (1976) and the first woman to be appointed to the New South Wales Metropolitan Water, Sewerage and Drainage Board (1979). When she was appointed permanent head of the New South Wales Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs in 1981, she became not only the first Aboriginal person but also the first woman to become a permanent head of ministry in Australia.

Oodgeroo Noonuccal

Oodgeroo Noonuccal was born Kathleen Jean Mary Ruska on 3 November 1920, on North Stradbroke Island, country of the Noonuccal tribe. She attended Dulwich Primary; left school and became a domestic in Brisbane at the age of 13. As an Aboriginal person, she said, 'there wasn't the slightest possibility of getting "a better job" [even] if you stayed on at school' (Murawina, 1993).

Oodgeroo's work has been recognised by numerous awards, including the Mary Gilmore Medal (1970), the Jessie Litchfield Award (1975), the International Acting Award and the Fellowship of Australian Writers' Award. She also held an honourary doctorate of letters (Macquarie University) and was awarded the degree of Doctor of the University from Griffith University. In 1970, Oodgeroo (under the name Kathleen Walker) was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (Civil) for services to the community. She returned it in 1987 in protest against the forthcoming Australian Bicentenary celebrations (1988). It was around this time that she reclaimed her traditional name, Oodgeroo of the Noonuccal Tribe.

NSW Ombudsman - Addressing Aboriginal Disadvantage

This report details an audit of the implementation of the NSW Interagency Plan to Tackle Child Sexual Assault in Aboriginal Communities 2006 - 2011 (Interagency Plan). The report seeks to bring together what has been said over a number of years publicly - as well as to agencies directly - about the systemic reforms that are needed to address Aboriginal disadvantage in NSW. It also builds on the findings and recommendations contained in our December 2010 report about service delivery to the Bourke and Brewarrina communities. The report highlights the importance of taking bold approaches to the priority areas of education, building economic capacity and protecting vulnerable children in Aboriginal communities.

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