Margaret Valadian

Margaret Valadian AO MBE (3 September 1936 – 23 December 2023) was an Aboriginal Australian educator and advocate for Indigenous rights, through improved access to education.

Career

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Valadian was born in Darwin, Northern Territory on 3 September 1936.[1] Following employment as a welfare worker in the Northern Territory she moved to Brisbane where she was the first Aboriginal graduate of an Australian university[2] when she received her Bachelor of Social Studies from the University of Queensland in 1966.[3][4] She graduated from the University of Hawaiʻi at the East–West Center with a Master of Education in 1969 and then from the State University of New York[which?] with a Master of Social Welfare in 1973.[3][5]

While an undergraduate, Valadian spoke of the financial obstacles facing Aboriginal students wishing to attend university at the 1963 conference of the National Union of Australian University Students.[6]

In 1978 Valadian founded the Aboriginal Training and Cultural Institute in Sydney and acted as co-director with Natasha McNamara[7] from its inception until 1990.[3] Professor Charles Rowley, who had conducted a national survey of Aborigines in NSW in 1980, said of their work:[7]

I learned more about education and the possibilities of new methods from this experience than I have from any single remembered experience of education, and have what I hope is the humility here to salute the genius of two Aboriginal women.

Under the auspices of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Valadian gave the 1980 Wentworth lecture, "Aboriginal Education: For Aborigines, By Aborigines?"[8]

Valadian was a member of the Council of the Sydney College of the Arts from 1984 to 1988.[9] She was appointed a member of the NSW Equal Opportunity Tribunal in 1984[10] and re-appointed for a second three-year term in 1987.[11]

In 1991 Valadian was invited to give the sixth Frank Archibald Memorial Lecture at the University of New England, the title of her speech being "Aboriginal Education—Development or Destruction. The Issues and Challenges that have to be Recognised".[5]

Valadian died on 23 December 2023.[1]

Honours and recognition

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In the 1976 Queen's Birthday Honours Valadian was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire for service to Aboriginal welfare.[12][13] She was promoted to Officer of the Order of Australia in the 1986 Australia Day Honours for "service to the community, particularly in the field of Aboriginal education and culture".[14] She was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001.[15]

Valadian won a BHP award for the pursuit of excellence in 1984, receiving AU$40,000 for her community service and welfare work.[16]

In 1995 Valadian was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters by Macquarie University.[17] She was named University of Queensland Alumnus of the Year in 1996.[18]

References

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  1. ^ a b Warn, Patti (15 January 2024). "First Indigenous woman to qualify with a university degree". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  2. ^ "5 Indigenous women who didn't get the credit". NITV. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "Valadian, Margaret". The Australian Women's Register. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  4. ^ Museum
  5. ^ a b "1991 Margaret Valadian: 1991 Frank Archibald Memorial Lecture". University of New England. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  6. ^ "Native Talent 'Wasted'". The Canberra Times. Vol. 37, no. 10, 460. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 14 February 1963. p. 11. Retrieved 9 January 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ a b "For Aborigines in NSW, there is hope for change". The Canberra Times. Vol. 57, no. 17, 237. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 7 December 1982. p. 16. Retrieved 9 January 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "Advertising". The Canberra Times. Vol. 54, no. 16, 305. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 17 May 1980. p. 21. Retrieved 9 January 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ "Colleges of Advanced Education Act, 1975". Government Gazette Of The State Of New South Wales. No. 24. New South Wales, Australia. 17 February 1984. p. 754. Retrieved 9 January 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ "Anti-Discrimination Act, 1977". Government Gazette Of The State Of New South Wales. No. 142. New South Wales, Australia. 5 October 1984. p. 4915. Retrieved 9 January 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "Equal Opportunity Tribunal". Government Gazette Of The State Of New South Wales. No. 156. New South Wales, Australia. 2 October 1987. p. 5576. Retrieved 9 January 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ "Miss Margaret VALADIAN". It's An Honour. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  13. ^ Australia list: "No. 46920". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 June 1976. p. 8051.
  14. ^ "Ms Margaret VALADIAN". It's An Honour. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  15. ^ "Dr Margaret VALADIAN". It's An Honour. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  16. ^ "IN BRIEF". The Canberra Times. Vol. 59, no. 17, 961. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 1 December 1984. p. 11. Retrieved 9 January 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. ^ "Honorary Alumni". Macquarie University. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  18. ^ "Margaret Valadian AO". University of Queensland. 13 November 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
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