The three Aboriginal women recognised for decades of hard work, determination and care to help their mob

Having dedicated most of their lives and careers to bettering the lives of Aboriginal people in WA, these three women have been recognised for their inspirational work. Jeanice Krakouer, Corina Martin OAM and Dr Mara West are the finalists for the Wesfarmers Aboriginal Award in this year’s Western Australian of the Year Awards that take place at Crown Perth on Thursday night. Each of them hails from a different part of this vast State but have similarly spent decades working tirelessly to improve the health, welfare, education and opportunities of WA’s Indigenous people. Jeanice Krakouer is a Noongar woman who was born and raised in Mount Barker in WA’s Great Southern. As chairperson of the South West Land and Sea Council, Ms Krakouer was instrumental in securing the $1.3 billion South West native title settlement which was officially registered in 2018. It was Australia’s largest native title settlement, covering 200,000 square kilometres of land and affecting more than 300,000 people. “It’s been an amazing journey. I can really see a future, particularly having access back to our land and having a future fund that will grow and provide a solid base for our people in the future,” she said. Ms Krakouer is currently chair of Wagyl Kaip Southern Noongar Aboriginal Corporation, one of the six corporations set up as part of the settlement. She started working as a secretary in Aboriginal housing and worked her way up to chair of the Aboriginal Housing Board. She has been a dedicated foster carer to more than 20 children and set up the Waabiny Time Aboriginal Playgroup in Albany where children and families are given cultural mentoring and support. Ms Krakouer said one of her biggest passion projects was as the chairperson of Madalah Limited, a charity which has provided more than 500 scholarships for Aboriginal students to attend leading WA schools. Yamatji elder Mara West was born on the banks of Gascoyne River after her mother was not allowed in the local hospital. It was the start of a childhood affected by poverty, racism and disadvantage, but one which bred a determination in young Mara to dedicate her life’s work to improving the lives of Aboriginal people. Dr West was the fourth Aboriginal person to graduate from Murdoch University. From there, she worked at TAFE for many years where she said one of her achievements was the creation of satellite TAFE sites beyond Perth. “It’s real satisfying to see somebody come into the system not knowing exactly what they want to do and pointing them in the right direction, and advising and supporting them. To see them at the end of the day graduate with a certificate of some sort is really great,” she said. Dr West is currently the chair of governing council of North Metro TAFE. She said she was particularly proud of the water and energy group she set up at Murdoch University in 2019 to bring together various parties to work on improving access to basic resources. “There are still people who don’t have access to basic resources. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done in that area, because I always contend that if you have good, clean drinking water, you have good electricity supplies, and you have good housing, then your health will improve immensely,” she said. Climate change is another issue Dr West has focused on because of its impact on remote communities. “They’re on the frontline. People out there are telling us that they’re seeing great changes to the countryside. Bush tucker is getting hard to find and the bush animals that used to be around and in plentiful supply before are now becoming very scarce,” she said. Dr West also works at the Kulunga Aboriginal Unit at the Kids Research Institute Australia which she said brings a “cultural lens” to the research done there. She was awarded Murdoch University’s highest honour, the degree of Doctor of the University, in September 2023. Corina Martin OAM has been the chief executive of the Aboriginal Family Legal Service for nine years. It is a very different arena from her early beginnings as a childcare worker in Broome when she was involved in setting up the town’s first daycare centre. Ms Martin said gaining her law and marketing degrees at Murdoch University as a mature student was among her biggest achievements, as well as writing a children’s book and presenting at a conference in Italy about the impact of colonisation on Australia’s Indigenous people. She was admitted to the Supreme Court as a barrister and solicitor in 2006 and became the AFLS’ principal lawyer 11 years ago and before taking over as CEO. Sadly Ms Martin believes the severity of family violence has got worse over the years, with a particularly devastating impact on the children involved. “I think it’s got to a point now where it really should be a human rights issue,” she said. “I think social media has a lot to do with it. Some of the films and stuff that’s on the internet, the abuse that goes on a lot more, it kind of normalises it.” The AFLS has expanded under Ms Martin’s leadership, with more regional offices, the Ochre Ribbon campaign to raise of awareness of family violence and the introduction of social workers and Aboriginal court advocates. When it comes to reconciliation, Ms Martin questioned the accountability of organisations and companies that claim to be working towards it. “People can say that they’re doing it. Whether they do or not or whether it becomes just another reconciliation report getting dust on the shelf, I don’t know,” she said. Ms Krakouer said reconciliation was “difficult” because of the outcome of the 2023 Voice referendum. More than 60 per cent of Australians voted no to changing the Constitution to create a Voice to Parliament that would represent Indigenous people. “That really set our people back. I still take heart from it, because there was still a large portion of people who actually supported the referendum,” she said. “I think reconciliation can still happen. It’s going to be driven by people of all cultures and all walks of life.” Dr West said there was much more to do to improve the lives of and opportunities for WA’s Aboriginal people. “Reconciliation has become a really big thing in our communities and also in business right across the board but you know, there’s still a lot of work to be done in that area because when you look at the Closing the Gap report, there are still huge holes in that,” she said.