At PEXA our purpose is to connect people to place – and in doing so we must first recognise the centuries of deep connection First Nations People have to Country. For many First Nations people in Australia, land is much more than soil, rocks or minerals. It’s a living environment that sustains, and is sustained by, people and culture.

PEXA Plex Meeting Rooms

We’re passionate about honouring and supporting Australia’s Indigenous heritage. With that, in July 2022 during our NAIDOC week celebrations an idea was born to celebrate the contribution of First Nations Australians by naming our meeting rooms after some amazing individuals.  
  
The new room names are reflective of some inspiring people, some well-known, others quiet achievers, who have made a huge impact in so many endeavours. Learn about the great Indigenous Australians we are recognising in this way and read about their connection to place below

Aunty Geraldine Atkinson

Aunty Geraldine Atkinson (born 1952) is a proud Bangerang/Wiradjuri warrior woman. For more than thirty years Aunty Geraldine has been an important pillar in the Victorian Aboriginal community. She has dedicated her career to increasing opportunities available for Aboriginal community through education in Victoria.

William Barak

William Barak, named Beruk at birth, (1824 – 1903), was the last Chief of the Yarra Yarra tribe and the last traditional ngurungaeta elder of the Wurundjeri-willam clan &#8211; the pre-colonial inhabitants of Naarm/Melbourne. Barak became an influential spokesman for Aboriginal social justice and an important informant on Wurundjeri cultural lore. In his later life Barak painted and drew Wurundjeri ceremonies,carved weapons and tools.

Uncle Graham  Bootsie Thorpe

Uncle Graham Bootsie Thorpe (born 1950) is a much loved and respected community leader. He has dedicated his life to supporting the community. Throughout his working life, he has supported Aboriginal community in many ways, working from the heart and treating everyone he has worked with as family, not clients. He has worked as a health worker in community health and mental health services. Bootsie has been a great mentor for other Aboriginal health workers and often works outside work hours even when he has been unwell himself.

Aunty Barbara ‘Barb’ Gibson-Thorpe 

Aunty Barbara ‘Barb’ Gibson-Thorpe (c. 1960) is an inductee into Victoria’s Aboriginal Honour Roll due to her persevering and diligent work in creating more jobs for Aboriginal workers throughout hospitals and in the healthcare system. Barb, a Wiradjuri woman began working in 1985 with the then-Bendigo Health Service, and subsequently became one of the first Aboriginal hospital liaison officers. For decades she endeavoured to improve the experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients through her advocacy, support and passion, while educating hospital staff on cultural awareness. Barb&#8217;s main focus was in healthcare and in creating equal opportunity for people with disabilities.

Aunty Diane “Di”  Kerr

Aunty Diane “Di” Kerr (born 1954) is an Indigenous Australian Wurundjeri Elder who identifies with the Ganun Willam Balak clan. She has contributed to Australian society through her work with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and government in a range of fields including health, childcare, education, native title, Stolen Generation support, and other community work. Kerr&#8217;s public contributions were nationally acknowledged by the awarding of the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2019 Australia Day Honours List. She was also acknowledged by the Victorian State Government when she was inducted into the 2017 Victorian Aboriginal Honour Roll.

Sir Douglas Ralph Nicholls

Sir Douglas Ralph Nicholls, KCVO, OBE (1906 – 1988) from the Yorta Yorta people was born at Cummeragunja Aboriginal mission. He was an activist, professional athlete, Churches of Christ pastor and church planter, governor, ceremonial officer and a pioneering campaigner for reconciliation. Sir Nicholls was the first Aboriginal player for the Victorian interstate team, and the first Aboriginal Australian to be knighted when he was appointed Knight Bachelor in 1972 – then subsequently appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1977. Sir Nicholls was also the first, and to date the only, Indigenous Australian to be appointed to vice-regal office, serving as Governor of South Australia 1976b and 1977 before resigning due to illness.

Jacqui Stewart

Jacqui Stewart (born 1951) represents her mob as a respected Taungurung Elder at the Tanderrum Ceremony, which is enacted by the Kulin Nations to allow for safe passage and temporary access to the land. Jacqui performs traditional Welcome to Country ceremonies for NAIDOC Week and is currently learning language. Since 2003 Jacqui has worked in the Koorie Court system where she was asked to take up an esteemed position as a Koori Court Elder at the Melbourne Magistrates Court.

Tullamareena  

Tullamareena (c 1810 – unknown) also known as Tullamarine and Dullamarin, was a senior man of the Wurundjeri, a Koori people. In 1835, he witnessed the British settlement in Victoria. Tullamareena was known to have been a resistor to British occupation of Wurundjeri lands. In 1838, he was arrested for stealing potatoes. After escaping during the Melbourne gaol fire, he was recaptured and set for trial in Sydney. The trial did not go ahead due to Tullamareena’s inability to understand English. He was then set free more than 700 km from his home.

Cathy Freeman

Cathy Freeman, byname of Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman, (born February 16, 1973, Mackay, Queensland, Australia), Australian sprinter who excelled in the 400-metre dash and who in 2000 became the first Australian Aboriginal person to win an individual Olympic gold medal. Cathy announced her retirement from athletics in 2003. In 2007, she founded the Cathy Freeman Foundation.

Ricky Maynard 

Ricky Maynard has built a career photographing and documenting the histories of Indigenous communities, primarily in and around his home in Tasmania. Largely self-taught, Maynard came to prominence in 1988 with his photo-essay The Moonbird People, which was commissioned for the photographic book After 200 Years: Photographic Essays of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia Today (1988).

David Unaipon

David Unaipon (1872-1967), born at the Point McLeay Mission on the Lower Murray in South Australia, David Unaipon would become a great inventor, an Indigenous rights advocate and Australia&#8217;s first published Aboriginal writer. Unaipon&#8217;s fascination for science was kindled under the teaching of Mr. W. Hutley. Unaipon went on to develop many inventions including an improved hand-piece for sheep-shearing which was patented in 1909 with the help of Herbert Basedow, a former South Australian Protector of Aborigines.

Dr Bronwyn  Bancroft

Bundjalung woman Dr Bronwyn Bancroft is an artist, activist, mentor, and writer. For three decades Bancroft has exhibited nationally and internationally. She has been a key player in the development of several cultural organisations including the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative. In the 1990s she was a Council Member of the National Gallery of Australia. Her work in children’s literature received the prestigious Dromkeen Medal in 2009.

Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley 

Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley (1951) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. Goolagong was one of the world&#8217;s leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s.  
At the age of 19, she won the French Open singles and the Australian Open doubles championships.  Goolagong was named Australian of the Year in 1971. She was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1972 and as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1982. Goolagong was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985, the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1988, and the Aboriginal Sporting Hall of Fame in 1989.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images and names of deceased persons.