Antoinette Braybrook first Aboriginal woman to receive Melburnian of the Year award

Callan Morse Published November 16, 2022 at 10.56am (AWST)

achievement

Kuku Yalanji woman Antoinette Braybrook has made history, becoming the first Aboriginal woman to receive the prestigious Melburnian of the Year award.

Ms Braybrook was recognised for her decades of advocacy and service to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

A prominent advocate for investment in Aboriginal-led, self-determined solutions, Ms Braybrook is a nationally recognised leader who has worked tirelessly for more than 20 years to end family violence against First Nations women.

In 2002 she established the inaugural Family Violence Prevention and Legal Service in Victoria, now known as Djirra, an organisation that offers practical support to all Aboriginal women and particularly to Aboriginal people who are experiencing family violence or have in the past.

Ms Braybrook was also instrumental in the development of Victoria's Aboriginal Justice Agreement in response to recommendations from the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and subsequent 1997 National Ministerial Summit on Indigenous Deaths in Custody.

Ms Braybrook said she was honoured yet surprised she was the first Indigenous woman to receive the award since its establishment in 2005.

"As an Aboriginal woman working in family violence for 20 years, I am incredibly honoured to be named the Melburnian of the Year," she said.

"It is hard to believe that I am the first Aboriginal person to receive this award in its 20 years of existence."

Ms Braybrook is the Co-Chair of Change the Record, a First Nations-led coalition of legal, health and family violence prevention experts, and former chair of the National Family Violence Prevention and Legal Services Forum.

In dedicating her award to Indigenous women, Ms Braybrook said she would use her award to continue to advocate for the rights of Indigenous women and to bring about a long-standing aim of a Melbourne-based First Nations women's centre to fruition.

"I dedicate this honour to Aboriginal women, recognising the strength and courage of every Aboriginal woman who has put her trust in me and our organisation Djirra for over two decades," she said.

"I will use the next 12 months to bring more attention to the systemic issues impacting Aboriginal women.

"I am hopeful the award will open doors and bring new opportunities for Djirra to finally implement our long-standing vision of an Aboriginal Women's Centre in Melbourne for all Aboriginal women in Victoria to access critical services for their safety."

Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp considers Ms Braybrook's Melburnian of the Year award a "historic moment".

Representatives of Djirri Djirri Cultural Services, a cultural dance group who were awarded the 2022 Aboriginal Melbourne – ganbu guljin Award. Image: City of Melbourne.

"Antoinette has made an insurmountable difference to our city and those in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community through her advocacy, care and passion for doing what matters," she said.

My Braybrook's Melburnian of the Year award is one of eight awards on the annual Melbourne Awards program, which recognise inspirational role models who have made outstanding contributions to their field and to the wider community.

They include the Aboriginal Melbourne – ganbu guljin award, which was awarded to Djirri Djirri Cultural Services, a Wurundjeri female-led dance group.

The group of traditional custodians mentor young Aboriginal girls in ceremony, language, dance and leadership, creating a firm cultural grounding.

2022 Melbourne Award winners