Alma Thorpe

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Alma Beryl 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 (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 became the first Indigenous woman elected to the Parliament of Victoria in 2018, and the first Victorian Aboriginal Senator in 2020.^[3]

References[]

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