Pearl Duncan

Duncan was born in approximately 1935 in Emmaville, New South Wales, where she spent her childhood as a member of the only Aboriginal family in the town. After graduating secondary school, she left for Sydney to study further.[2]

She was married for approximately 30 years.[2]

In Sydney, Duncan gained tertiary teaching qualifications — the first known Aboriginal Australian to do so — before moving to Yarrabah in North Queensland where she taught for two years.[2] During her time in Yarrabah, she starred in the 1953 documentary Children of the Wasteland, a film about Indigenous life in the area that was a source of controversy amongst censors.[5] She continued her teaching career elsewhere, including in the Torres Strait and New Zealand,[6] and in 1977 was appointed to the National Aboriginal Education Committee.[7] She has also worked as Head of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Unit at the Queensland University of Technology, and in senior roles in the public service.[8]

She holds a Bachelor of Letters in anthropology from the Australian National University and a masters degree in education from the University of Canberra. She completed her thesis on Aboriginal humour and was awarded a PhD from the University of Queensland in 2014.[9]

She received a Centenary Medal "[in] recognition of community service through Indigenous education" on New Year's Day 2001,[1] before being Queensland's nominee for Senior Australian of the Year in 2004.[10]

Later, in 2008, she was named a Queensland Great,[11] an honour which "recognises the efforts and achievements of remarkable individuals... for their invaluable contribution to the history and development of [the] state".[12]

Each year, the Queensland Department of Education awards multiple Pearl Duncan Teaching Scholarships to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, named in honour of Duncan "[dedicating] her working life to encouraging, promoting and motivating indigenous participation in education".[13]