Standing up for rights: a lifetime of advocacy honoured
Keira Jenkins |
Growing up on an Aboriginal mission, every aspect of Aunty Millie Ingram’s life was controlled.
So when she challenged an unfair dismissal at the chocolate factory where she worked in the 1950s, Ms Ingram surprised herself.
“Coming off a mission under the control of mission managers, that wasn’t the done thing,” the Wiradjuri woman told AAP.
“I stood up for myself and I won.”
Ms Ingram had moved from central west NSW, where she grew up on Erambie Mission, near Cowra, to Redfern to find work.
She started working at the factory, enrolled in night courses and so began a lifetime of steadfast activism for Aboriginal people.
This advocacy spans decades across government, education, land rights and grassroots initiatives.
“I’ve had a lot of experience,” Ms Ingram said.
“But my main experience is being Aboriginal … I was surrounded by wonderful people, not only my own family, and particularly all the matriarchal people.”
The “jewel in the crown” for her is the establishment of the Wyanga Aboriginal Aged Care program, which supports local Elders.
At 85, and an Elder herself, Ms Ingram remains on the program’s board and doubts she’ll ever stop working.
An appointment as a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia for significant service to the Indigenous community of NSW in the 2025 King’s Birthday Honours List, spurs her on even more.
“If this gives me a voice and a platform that I can keep advocating for us to become a better Australia, that’s what I’ll do,” Ms Ingram said.
In the Torres Strait, Harold Matthew hopes being awarded a Medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia for service to the Indigenous community of Thursday Island can inspire others.
He co-founded the Torres Strait Island Running Festival and Thursday Island Deadly Runners, but when he became a member of the Indigenous Marathon Project in 2014, he wasn’t a fan of long-distance running.
Seeing the physical, mental and spiritual health benefits of running, Mr Matthew was hooked, and he’s proud to be bringing his community along for the trip.
“I can see the ripples in the community,” he said.
“In the mornings and evenings you always see people out on the island running and walking and I think it’s so unreal how far we’ve taken this.”
Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been recognised for their contributions in health, community advocacy, education and land rights including inaugural co-chairs of the First People’s Assembly of Victoria, Geraldine Atkinson and Marcus Stewart.
Dr Atkinson was appointed an officer (AO) of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the Indigenous community, to education, to First Nations self-determination and to reconciliation, while Mr Stewart was appointed an AM for significant service to Indigenous advocacy.
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