Marie Coleman

Last updated

Marie Coleman
Born
Marie Yvonne Coleman

1933
Occupation(s)Feminist, social activist, public servant and journalist

Marie Yvonne Coleman, AO , PSM ( née Burns; born 1933) is an Australian feminist, social activist, public servant and journalist. She was the first woman to head an Australian national statutory authority. She spent over 60 years campaigning against the gender pay gap and other social injustices.

Contents

Early life and education

Coleman, an only child, was born in 1933 in Dubbo, New South Wales, to Kathleen (née Nunan), a shop assistant at Western Stores. [1] Her father, Alexander Burns, worked for the NSW Railways. The family moved frequently throughout her childhood, requiring her to change schools many times as her father was looking for advancements in his career.

She first attended school at Hunter Valley, continued to NSW Government Education Department's Black Friars Correspondence School, then Dubbo Primary School, Orange Primary School, Orange High School, and finished at Lithgow High School. [1]

Coleman attended the University of Sydney in 1950, studying economics and politics for an Arts degree, then completed a diploma in social studies. She was editor of the student newspaper, Honi Soit, and was only the second woman to hold that title. She was talented in the classroom and on the field, playing Inter-Varsity cricket, as well as international debating, [1] and being a member of the university's Student Representative Council. [2]

Career

Colemen spent over 60 years campaigning against the gender pay gap and other social injustices. [3]

Coleman was appointed and held the position of chair of the National Social Welfare Commission by the Whitlam government in 1972 to 1975 – the first woman in Australia to head a national statutory authority. [4] [5] In 1976, she was selected as the Director of the Office of Childcare, and during this time, the Australian Commonwealth began supporting Aboriginal Child supports creating before and after school daycare, and a program for female refugees. [1]

In 1989 Coleman was a founding member of the National Foundation for Australian Women and an active participant in the Australian Women's Archives Project. [5]

Following her retirement from the Australian Public Service in 1995, Coleman became a columnist with the Canberra Times until 2003. One of her earliest jobs had been as reporter for the social pages of the Daily Telegraph in Sydney. [2] In 2012 she worked for the Australian Women's Archives Project and for the Social Policy Committee of the National Council for Australian Women.

Awards and recognition

Personal life

In 1956 Coleman married James Harry Coleman, of Melbourne, Victoria. They had three daughters. [2]

She made a cameo appearance in the 2024 season of the reality television show Farmer Wants a Wife , helping her grandson Joe Bobbin choose a wife from four female contestants. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Order of Australia</span> Australian national honour

The Order of Australia is an Australian 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 then prime minister Gough Whitlam. Before the establishment of the order, Australians could receive British honours, which continued to be issued in parallel until 1992.

Dorothy Auchterlonie was an English-born Australian academic, literary critic and poet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elisabeth Murdoch (philanthropist)</span> Australian philanthropist and mother of international media proprietor Rupert Murdoch (1909-2012)

Dame Elisabeth Joy Murdoch, Lady Murdoch, also known as Elisabeth, Lady Murdoch, was an Australian philanthropist and matriarch of the Murdoch family. She was the wife of Australian newspaper publisher Sir Keith Murdoch and the mother of international media proprietor Rupert Murdoch. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1963 for her charity work in Australia and overseas.

Dianne Yerbury is an Australian university administrator and company director. She was the Vice-Chancellor of Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia from 1987 to 2005.

Ingrid Moses, an Australian academic and former university administrator, is an emeritus professor at the University of Canberra. After a long academic career in Australia, Moses served as the Chancellor of the University of Canberra between 2006 and 2011.

Margaret Joan Beazley,, is an Australian jurist who is the 39th and current governor of New South Wales, serving since 2 May 2019. She was the president of the New South Wales Court of Appeal, the first woman to hold the office, from 2013 until February 2019.

Robyn Maher is an Australian former basketball player. A three-time Olympian, she was a member of the national women's team that won the bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. In the Women's National Basketball League, she played for the Nunawading Spectres, Hobart Islanders, Perth Breakers and Sydney Uni Flames.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Crouch (businessman)</span> Chairman of Midgeon Holdings Pty Ltd. (1933-2018)

Michael Jenkins Crouch was Chairman of Australian private company Midgeon Holdings Pty Ltd. Midgeon acted as a holding vehicle for his long-term investments which include interests in Australian manufacturing, beef production, meat processing and property. Until December 2013 he was also Executive Chairman of Zip Industries, a manufacturing company he founded following his acquisition in 1962 of Zip Heaters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michelle Simmons</span> British-Australian quantum physicist (born 1967)

Michelle Yvonne Simmons is an Australian quantum physicist, recognised for her foundational contributions to the field of atomic electronics.

Shortis and Simpson are an Australian entertainment and political satire duo composed of John Damien Shortis and Moya Simpson. They are singers, composers, political satirists and cabaret artists as well as producers and writers of wide-ranging performance genres. John Shortis is a satirist, singer, songwriter, composer, social historian, and political commentator. Moya Simpson is a singer and actor, and choir director. She immigrated to Australia in 1978. Their work includes, Under the influence which was a music theatre production in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joan Bielski</span> Australian womens rights activist

Joan Margaret Bielski,, was an Australian activist for equality for women in employment, education and public life.

Janet Susan McCalman, is an Australian social historian, population researcher and author at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne. McCalman won the Ernest Scott Prize in 1985 and 2022 (shared); the second woman to have won and one of eight historians to have won the prize twice.

Janice Clare Reid is an Australian academic and medical anthropologist, who has specialised in Aboriginal and refugee health. She was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Western Sydney from 1998 to 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alitya Rigney</span> Australian teacher and Aboriginal elder

Alitya Wallara Rigney, née Richards,, also knowns as Aunty Alice, was an Australian Aboriginal scholar. She was a Kaurna elder and part of the team that revived the Kaurna language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MaryAnn Bin-Sallik</span> Djaru Elder and Australian academic

MaryAnn Bin-Sallik is a Djaru Elder and Australian academic, specialising in Indigenous studies and culture. She was the first Indigenous Australian to gain a doctorate from Harvard University.

Emeritus Professor Susan (Sue) Mary Stocklmayer,, is a science communicator who served as Director of the Centre for the Public Awareness of Science at the Australian National University (ANU) from 1998 to 2015.

Philippa Marian Sawer is an Australian political scientist. She is a professor emeritus at the Australian National University (ANU).

Jennifer Westacott is an Australian business executive. She served as the chief executive of the Business Council of Australia (BCA) from 2011 to 2023. She is the current chancellor of Western Sydney University.

Jennifer Anne Gregory is an Australian academic and historian. Her research and writing focuses on the history of Western Australia. As of September 2020 she is professor emerita at the University of Western Australia.

Ann Margaret McGrath is an Australian historian and academic. As of 2023 she is the WK Hancock Chair of History at the Australian National University.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Coleman, Marie Yvonne, (AO, PSM) (1933–) – People and organisations". Trove . Retrieved 29 October 2019. Contributed by Australian Women's Register
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Coleman, Marie Yvonne". The Australian Women's Register. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  3. ↑ "Honours for Marie Coleman". Economic S4W. Archived from the original on 9 December 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  4. ↑ "National Social Welfare Commission (1972–1975)". The Australian Women's Register. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  5. 1 2 "Our Champions – Marie Coleman AO PSM". National Foundation of Women. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  6. ↑ "COLEMAN, Marie Yvonne". Australian Honours Research Facility – Dept of Prime Minister & Cabinet. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  7. ↑ "COLEMAN, Marie Yvonne". Australian Honours Search Facility – Dept of Prime Minister & Cabinet. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  8. ↑ "Victorian Honour Roll of Women 2017 – pdf" (PDF). Victoria.gov.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  9. ↑ "Marie Coleman PSM". Australian of the Year Awards. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  10. ↑ "COLEMAN, Marie Yvonne". Australian Honours Search Facility – Dept of Prime Minister & Cabinet. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  11. ↑ Doherty, Megan (12 April 2024). "Meet Farmer Joe, the former Raiders junior looking for a wife". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.