On International Women’s Day, we celebrate the achievements of women all around the world. And whilst there are many amazing women globally to be celebrated, there are also many women here in Australia achieving great things and whose stories should be heard. On this day, here at Grow Hope, we choose to celebrate some of the Indigenous women in our country - both past and present - that have achieved amazing things in their field. And whilst there are so many women that deserve to be included, we have chosen the following four inspirational Indigenous women to profile.
Shirley Colleen Smith AM MBE, 1924-1998 (Wiradjuri woman)
Shirley Colleen Smith was a Wiradjuri woman, a social worker and humanitarian. She was dedicated to justice and welfare of Indigenous Australians and helped to found several services that still play an important role in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander wellbeing in NSW. These include the Aboriginal Legal Service, Aboriginal Medical Service, Aboriginal Housing Company, the Tent Embassy and the Aboriginal Children’s Service.
These services inspired similar ones to be set up around Australia providing support for many Indigenous Australians. For her work she was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire and the Order of Australia, recognised as an Australian National Living Treasure, and named Aboriginal of the Year in 1990.
Shirley was better known as ‘Mum Shirl’. She got this name after visiting her brother in prison where she would spend time talking with him and the other inmates. She continued to do this for a number of years. When the prison guards asked her how she knew the prisoners she would answer ‘I’m their mum!’.
Faith Thomas AM, 1933- (Adnyamathanha woman)
Faith Thomas was a talented sportswoman and was the first Aboriginal woman to play international cricket for Australia. In fact, she was the first Indigenous woman to represent Australia internationally in any sport. Faith was also a talented hockey player and was a member of the Aboriginal Sports Foundation.
Whilst she was playing cricket, Faith was also studying to be a nurse. She was amongst the first group of Aboriginal college graduates in Australia and the first Aboriginal woman to graduate as a nurse from the Royal Adelaide Hospital in SA. She used her skills to help others, driving all over the country providing nursing care to Indigenous Australians. She later became the first Indigenous woman to run a hospital.
She was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for her service to cricket and her role in breaking down racial stereotypes.
Evonne Goolagong Cawley AC MBE, 1951- (Wiradjuri woman)
Evonne Goolagong Cawley is a former world No. 1 tennis player. Her career had humble beginnings at the local tennis court in Barellan, NSW, but would lead to Evonne being one of the best players in the world during the 1970s and early 1980s.
Evonne won seven Grand Slam singles titles in her time, starting with the French Open at the age of just 19. She was Australian of the Year in 1971 and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1988.
Since 2005, Evonne has used tennis to promote better health and education outcomes for Indigenous girls and boys through the Goolagong National Development Camp. She has also established the Evonne Goolagong Foundation and served on the boards of the Indigenous Land Corporation and the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence.
Nova Peris OAM, 1971- (Muran woman)
Nova Peris is another inspirational Aboriginal woman and sportswoman. In 1996, she played with the Australian Hockeyroos at the Atlanta Olympics and became the first Aboriginal woman to win an Olympic gold medal. She then changed sports to Track and Field and competed at the 1996 Commonwealth Games, winning gold medals in the 200m and 4x100m. This made her the only Australian to win international gold medals in two different sports. She later competed in Track and Field at the Sydney Olympics, making it to the semi-finals in her individual event and placing fifth in the relay.
In 1997 she was named the Northern Territory Young Australian of the Year and also received the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to sport.
Nova later moved into politics after Julia Gillard invited her to seek election to parliament. In 2013, Nova became the first Indigenous woman to be elected to Federal Parliament as a senator for the Northern Territory. She continues to be an active campaigner of Indigenous rights and reconciliation.
Shirley Colleen Smith, Faith Thomas, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, and Nova Peris are four inspirational Indigenous Australian women who have achieved great things in their lives and careers while fighting for the rights of First Nations communities. There are many more amazing women achieving great things in our communities every day. So let us honour all of them and keep walking and growing together.
Victoria Alguera-Lara
Director