Alma Thorpe

Alma Thorpe also known as Aunty Alma Thorpe is an indigenous elder born in Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia, in 1935 during the depression. In 1973 Thorpe helped establish the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service (VAHS).

Early life

Thorpe was born in Fitzroy during the during the Great Depression in 1935. Her mother was Edna Brown[1]

At 18 she married and moved to the town of Yallourn.

Achievements

In 1973 she helped establish the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service (VAHS) to help the Aboriginal community with their health and wellbeing.[2]

Alma also set up the Yappera Children's Service to provide child care, and in 1977, a youth club and gym, now called Melbourne Aboriginal Youth Sport and Recreation (MAYSAR).[2]

She is a respected elder at the institute of Koorie Education at Deakin University.[2]

For all of her hard work in the Aboriginal community she was made a lifetime member of the Aborigines Advancement League.[2]

Her granddaughter Lidia Thorpe in 2017 became the first Indigenous woman elected to the Parliament of Victoria.[3]

References
  1. https://www.aboriginalvictoria.vic.gov.au/edna-brown
  2. "2011 Victorian Aboriginal Honour Roll - Alma Thorpe". State Government of Victoria. 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  3. New Greens MP Lidia Thorpe's long road from Nowa Nowa to Northcote, The Age, 19 November 2017.


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