Mollie Geraldine Dyer (1927–1998) was a
Yorta Yorta
The Yorta Yorta, also known as Jotijota, are an Aboriginal Australian people who have traditionally inhabited the area surrounding the junction of the Goulburn and Murray Rivers in present-day north-eastern Victoria and southern New South Wales ...
woman who was an Aboriginal Child Welfare Worker and Aboriginal community worker, best known for co-founding the
Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency in 1977.
Auntie Mollie, as she became known, was the daughter of
Margaret Tucker
Margaret Lilardia Tucker MBE (28 March 1904 – 23 August 1996) was an Aboriginal Australian activist and writer who was among the first Aboriginal authors to publish an autobiography, in 1977.
Early life
Margaret Tucker was born at War ...
, an Aboriginal activist involved in establishing
Australian Aborigines League, and Philip Tucker, an Irish man. Dyer grew up in
Hawthorn
Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to:
Plants
* '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae
* ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...
and
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
, and was educated at a
convent school in Abbotsford where she was the only Aboriginal pupil. She would frequently travel to
New South Wales
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, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
to stay with her mother's family at
Cummeragunja
Cummeragunja Reserve or Cummeragunja Station, alternatively spelt Coomeroogunja, Coomeragunja, Cumeroogunga and Cummerguja, was a settlement on the New South Wales side of the Murray River, on the Victorian border near Barmah. It was also refe ...
Mission.
When Dyer's father was serving overseas during World War II, Dyer, aged 15, left school to enter the workforce, where she experienced significant racism. Dyer's first marriage, to Alan Burns in 1947, produced six children all of whom were to become involved in Aboriginal community work and activism, and then married Charlie Dyer. In addition to her six biological children, Dyer would foster 19 children and provide short term accommodation for many more throughout her life.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Dyer worked with a group of fellow Aboriginal women to establish and deliver services to the Aboriginal community despite a lack of funding. In 1966, Dyer accepted a full-time position with the
Aborigines Advancement League
The Aboriginal Advancement League was founded in 1957 as the Victorian Aborigines Advancement League (VAAL), is the oldest Aboriginal rights organisation in Australia still in operation. Its precursor organisations were the Australian Abori ...
, continuing and formalising her welfare work.
When the
Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literature ...
was established in 1973, Dyer moved to a position there.
In 1976, Dyer delivered a speech at a national adoption conference and this instigated discussion of an Aboriginal-run agency to support Aboriginal children and families. The
Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency was established and Dyer served as Program Director, and soon similar organisations were established in other parts of Australia. Dyer worked to establish the
Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care
Secretariat may refer to:
* Secretariat (administrative office)
* Secretariat (horse)
Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred racehorse who is the ninth winner of the Ame ...
(SNAICC) in 1981.
Dyer was part of the group that establish the
Brambuk Living Cultural Centre in
Halls Gap
Halls Gap is a town in Victoria, Australia. It is located on Grampians Road, adjacent to the Grampians National Park, in the Shire of Northern Grampians local government area. The town is set in the Fyans Valley at the foot of the Wonderland a ...
.
Dyer received the Member of the Order of Australia medal in 1979 in recognition of service to the Aboriginal community. She also received an International Year of the Child Award and an Advance Australia Medal. The Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency headquarters was named in her honour. A street in the
ACT suburb of
Bonner is named after her.
Memoir
Dyer's memoir ''Room for One More: The Life of Mollie Dyer'' was published in 2003, although it had been written before Dyer's 1998 death.
[Mollie Dyer, Room for One More: The Life of Mollie Dyer, East Melbourne, Victoria : Aboriginal Affairs Victoria, 200]
/ref>
References
External links
Mollie Dyer AM: A voice for those most vulnerable
Aboriginal Victoria, State Government of Victoria, Access Date: 28 June 2021.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dyer, Mollie
1927 births
1998 deaths
People from New South Wales
Australian indigenous rights activists
Women human rights activists
Indigenous Australian welfare workers
People from Hawthorn, Victoria
20th-century Australian women