N’arweet Carolyn Briggs is a Yaluk-ut Weelam and

Boon Wurrung The Boonwurrung people are an Aboriginal people of the Kulin nation, who are the traditional owners of the land from the Werribee River to Wilsons Promontory in the Australian state of Victoria. Their territory includes part of what is now the c ...

elder, and the Boon Wurrung representative in the

City of Port Phillip The City of Port Phillip is a local government area of Victoria, Australia on the northern shores of Port Phillip, south of Melbourne's central business district. It has an area of 20.7 km² and had a population of 113,200 in June 2018. P ...

. She is the founder and chair of the Boon Wurrung Foundation. She was awarded the National Aboriginal Elder of the Year in 2011 by the National NAIDOC Committee. She was inducted into the

Victorian Honour Roll of Women The Victorian Honour Roll of Women was established in 2001 to recognise the achievements of women from the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The Honour Roll was established as part of the cele ...

in 2005. She was awarded a Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(AM) as part of the 2019

Queen’s Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are presen ...

list.

Biography

Briggs is the great-granddaughter of Louisa Briggs, who as a child was abducted by seal hunters before later returning to the

Kulin nation The Kulin nation is an alliance of five Aboriginal nations in south central Victoria, Australia. Their collective territory extends around Port Phillip and Western Port, up into the Great Dividing Range and the Loddon and Goulburn River valley ...

with her husband, John Briggs, who also survived abduction. Briggs was born in Melbourne. She first attended

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

in the 1970s, and completed her Doctorate in Philosophy (Media and Communications) at

RMIT University RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city ...

in 2020. In the 1970s, she opened the first Aboriginal child care service in the

Dandenong Ranges The Dandenong Ranges (commonly just The Dandenongs) are a set of low mountain ranges, rising to 633 metres at Mount Dandenong, approximately east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The ranges consist mostly of rolling hills, steeply weathere ...

. In 2005, she established the Boon Wurrung Foundation, to conduct cultural research, including for the restoration of the Boon Wurrung language.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Briggs, Carolyn Indigenous Australians in Victoria (Australia) Victoria (Australia) local councillors Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Members of the Order of Australia Women local councillors in Australia