A novel might be a more suitable format to explain why Barmah resident Dr Geraldine Atkinson is receiving an Officer of the Order of Australia award.
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The impact of her work for Indigenous communities, education, First Nations self-determination and reconciliation can be seen locally, statewide and nationally.
These same achievements will now be formally recognised with an AO, which Aunty Geraldine said was a welcome, if somewhat surprising, outcome.
“I was astounded. I didn’t even understand what it meant. My initial reaction was, ‘what is this?’” she said.
“Over the 40 to 50 years that I’ve worked in Aboriginal affairs, I’ve done quite a bit. To be recognised and rewarded for that, I think, is amazing.”
In that time, Aunty Geraldine’s main focus has been on ensuring Indigenous children receive both an academic and cultural education, and her influence has been broad.
Dr Geraldine Atkinson’s career
Indigenous education
President, Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Incorporated, since 1999.
Representative, Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs, current.
Advisory Board Member, National Indigenous Knowledges Education Research and Innovation Institute (NIKERI), Deakin University (formerly the Institute of Koorie Education (IKE), 20 years.
Former Board Member, Goulburn Ovens TAFE (GOTAFE).
Inaugural Co-Chair, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation (NATSIEC), since 2024.
First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria
Member, 2019-2023.
Inaugural Co-Chair, 2019-2023.
North-East Region Member, Elder's Voice, since 2019.
Reconciliation
Member, Indigenous Voice Senior Advisory Group (Federal Co-design Process), 2019-2023.
Member, Aboriginal Treaty Working Group, 2016-2018.
Indigenous ― Other
Board Member, Aboriginal Advancement League, current.
Board Director, Aboriginal Community Services Association, current.
Member, Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council, 2016-2020.
Deputy Chairperson and Member, National Executive of the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAIC), 1999-2020.
Signatory to Victorian Government’s Burra Lotjpa Dungaludga (“Senior Leaders Talking Strong”) ― The Aboriginal Justice Agreement Phase 4 (2019).
Member of the Australian Research Council Indigenous Forum.
Awards and Recognition
Honorary Doctorate for Outstanding Contribution to Indigenous Education, Deakin University, 2020.
Lynne Kosky Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement in Education, Victorian Training Awards, 2020.
Member, Victorian Aboriginal Honour Roll, 2018.
Member, Victorian Women’s Honour Roll, 2008.
The results of her advocacy work can be seen in Echuca, where she helped to launch Berrimba Childcare Centre.
Aunty Geraldine has also assisted elderly women gain employment at Echuca Regional Health, where two of her children were born, and establishing Aboriginal liaison officers at the hospital.
In Barmah and surrounds, her work has revolved around environmental protection and revitalising Cummeragunja Reserve, the site her mother was born and where Aunty Geraldine grew up.
“I lived up on Cummeragunja with my sister and brother-in-law for quite a while,” she said.
“I went to school on Cummeragunja when it was open.”
After graduating from Nathalia Secondary College, Aunty Geraldine went on to become a teacher’s aide, a move which helped to inform the rest of her career.
“I developed a passion for education and for getting better outcomes for Aboriginal students, and it’s been my passion most of my life,” she said.
Since 1999, Aunty Geraldine has been the president of the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Incorporated, one of her many formal titles.
The association’s aim is to increase Koorie representation and decision-making in the state’s education system.
She is still heavily involved with various boards and government initiatives, and is currently working to establish an Aboriginal education consultative group in other states.
“We've been working and lobbying in Tasmania, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, and we think we're getting pretty close,” she said.
In Shepparton, you can find her at Lulla’s Children and Family Centre, where her daughter, who used to attend the centre, currently manages the facility.
Apart from education, the centre’s purpose is to instil a sense of cultural pride into the children, an issue Aunty Geraldine noticed during her work as a teacher’s aide.
“I worked with young teenagers who weren’t really proud of their Aboriginality,” she said.
“They were ashamed. What I wanted to do was make sure that with the children we were bringing up, those next generations, that they were proud of their identity.”
She said the benefits had been significant as children were raised with a sense of resilience, helping them to complete further schooling and pursue meaningful careers.
Despite strong contributions to her community, Aunty Geraldine has not always felt she’s received the same courtesy.
In 2023, the Nicholls electorate’s Voice Referendum ‘yes’ vote being among the lowest in the state was a particular point of pain.
“I was shattered, and I was so deflated and so defeated,” Aunty Geraldine said.
“I thought we were a part of this community. We’ve lived here all our lives.”
As the former co-chair of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, which has led Victoria’s Treaty process, Aunty Geraldine was embedded in the referendum process.
While she said progress had been made in Victoria during her involvement in Aboriginal affairs, especially in education, she sees more work to be done.
“There is a gap that still exists, and we have to close it and make sure it’s better in things like health, housing, law and education,” Aunty Geraldine said.
“Not just within this state, but nationally, things have to improve.”
The AO is considered to be the highest recognition in Australia for outstanding service ― a service Aunty Geraldine plans to continue providing.