Growing up on an Aboriginal mission, every aspect of Aunty Millie Ingram’s life was controlled. So when she challenged an unfair dismissal at the chocolate factory where she worked in the 1950s, Ms Ingram surprised herself.
“Coming off a mission under the control of mission managers, that wasn’t the done thing,
I stood up for myself and I won.”
Ms Ingram had moved from central west NSW, where she grew up on Erambie Mission, near Cowra, to Redfern to find work. She started working at the factory, enrolled in night courses and so began a lifetime of steadfast activism for Aboriginal people. This advocacy spans decades across government, education, land rights and grassroots initiatives.
The “jewel in the crown” for her is the establishment of the Wyanga Aboriginal Aged Care program, which supports local Elders. At 85, and an Elder herself, Ms Ingram remains on the program’s board and doubts she’ll ever stop working.
An appointment as a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia for significant service to the Indigenous community of NSW in the 2025 King’s Birthday Honours List, spurs her on even more. “If this gives me a voice and a platform that I can keep advocating for us to become a better Australia, that’s what I’ll do,” Ms Ingram said.
