WARNING: This article contains the image of an Aboriginal person who has passed.
Indigenous rights activist Dr Evelyn Scott’s legacy has been honoured in a historic first for the ACT.
A new public school in the Molonglo Valley has been named the Evelyn Scott School.
“It is an incredible honour to lead the first school in Canberra to be named after an Aboriginal woman,” said Evelyn Scott School Principal Jackie Vaughan.
The name was announced during a ceremony on Tuesday which also saw the unveiling of a new mural on the gymnasium by Ngunnawal artist Lynnice Church.
Ngunnawal artist Lynnice ‘Letty’ Church beside her mural at the Evelyn Scott School in Canberra. Source: ACT Government
The life of Dr Evelyn Scott
A staunch reconciliation advocate, Dr Evelyn Scott pushed for the advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, especially women, across the country.
She was born in 1935 in Ingham in Far North Queensland. An Aboriginal and South Sea Islander woman, her grandfather was ‘black-birded’ and brought to Australia to clear land for the sugar industry.
Her career in Aboriginal affairs expanded across thirty years. Her work included being Chair of the Cairns and district Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation for Women and the first female Chair of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation in 1991.
She was a lead campaigner in the ‘Yes’ campaign for the 1967 Referendum and was instrumental in establishing Aboriginal Legal Services, Housing Societies and Medical services in her home state.
Dr Scott spoke very openly about her experiences of racism, including being denied the ability to try on or purchase her wedding dress in a store in 1963 and being denied a taxi ride to the airport due to the colour of her skin in 1999.
She took the taxi driver to the Anti-Discrimination Commission not long after the event. She was issued a formal apology by both the company and the driver – with him losing his job as a consequence of the racism.
Dr Scott passed away in 2017. She was the first Aboriginal woman to be honoured with a state funeral by the Queensland government.
The late Evelyn Scott, head of the Reconciliation Council, holding a rain stick containing the Reconciliation Charter in the year 2000. Source: ohn van Hasselt/Sygma via Getty Images
21st-century learning
The Evelyn Scott School is a one-of-a-kind facility.
“This school is purpose-built for future-focused learning. It is a contemporary school, with open-plan architecture for 21st-century learning," said Ms Vaughan.
Whilst the junior site was opened last year, supporting almost 700 primary school students, construction on the senior site has only now been finalised.
It should welcome 600 students from year 7 to 10 in the 2023 school year.
The school is Canberra’s 89th public school and is the territory’s second zero-emissions school.
