National NAIDOC 2004 Award Winners

Merlene Mead - Elder of the Year (Female)

Merlene comes from Wagin in Western Australia where she has lived her entire life.

She is a 56-year-old Mother of four young men and a grandmother of 21 grand children.

Merlene is respected in her community in Wagin where she is often called on to be the spokesperson or liaison person for members of the Aboriginal community.

She is the Aboriginal advocate for Centrelink and is called on regularly by her community to assist in helping Aboriginal people navigate their way through government agencies and bureaucracies.

It has been said by Aboriginal people in her local and surrounding areas of Merlene that when in doubt:

“Give Merle a call and see what can be done” as when someone is in trouble, they know they can call her for help.

Merlene has played an integral role in forming many of the Aboriginal organisations in her community and the surrounding area. She was one of the leading people in getting recognition of the Wagin Aboriginal Reserve, a place now used for the benefit of local Aboriginal people.

Merlene raised her four young boys by herself after the death of her partner. Family has always been an important focus for Merlene. She has taken on the selfless role of caring for relatives in need as well as encouraging the cultural continuance of her people taking friends and family on bush cultural trips.

Merlene started work in 1973 doing hose cleaning and gardening for many local households around Wagin. In 1989 the Community Health Service, employed Merlene as an Aboriginal health liaison worker, where she worked for 15 years. Eventually when the services changed to Community Nursing, Merlene decided to retire.

In her retirement, Merlene still dedicates a lot of her time to assisting her community and spending time with her family.