Hawkes, Rechelle
(1967 – )Hockey player, Olympian
Described as ‘the cornerstone of Australia’s golden era in women’s hockey’, Rechelle Hawkes was one of the world’s most highly decorated hockey players. She had her international debut in 1985 and retired in 2000, playing an Australian record 279 international matches and winning multiple gold medals in major competitions along the way. She won three Olympic Games gold medals (1988, 1996, 2000), two World Cups (1994, 1998) and five Champions Trophies (1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999). She was a member of the team that won gold at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998. She is the most successful female player in international Hockey history
Hawkes had bad luck with injuries early in her career, but this did not stop her from taking her place in the team that won Olympic gold in 1988 in Seoul. In 1993, she was appointed team captain and led the team that compiled an unbeaten streak of 31 games leading into the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, and which eventually went on to beat South Korea 3-1 in the final.
After Atlanta, Hawkes took some time off the game to contemplate her future. She decided to go for Olympic gold one more time and was given the honour of reading the Athletes’ Oath at the opening ceremony in Sydney. Two weeks later, she played her last international game and claimed her third Olympic gold medal.
Hawkes was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Western Australian Hall of Champions in 2005.
Sauvage, Alix Louise
(1973 – )Paralympian, Wheelchair Track and Road Racer
Louise Sauvage is a professional athlete and Paralympian who dominated the world of wheelchair track and road racing for well over a decade. Over the course of her career, Sauvage won nine Paralympic gold medals, four Boston Marathons, and was four times the winner of the 800m Wheelchair Exhibition Race at the IAAF World Athletic Championships. She holds world records in the 1500m, 5000m and 4x100m and 4x400m relays. Louise Sauvage was Australian Female Athlete of the Year in 1999, and International Female Wheelchair Athlete of the Year in 1999 and 2000.
Davidson, Eileen
(1909 – 2007)Social worker
Catholic social worker Eileen Davidson worked for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration’s child search operation, and for the International Refugee Organisation, after the Second World War. She raised ₤70,000 for the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund.
Chase, Muriel Jean Eliot
(1880 – 1936)Community worker, Journalist, Print journalist, Professional photographer
Muriel Chase ( nee Cooper) was well known for her community work, philanthropy, journalism and photography. A foundation member of the Karrakatta Club and the Women Writer’s Club, she was social editress of the West Australian from 1903.
Blackburn, Estelle
(1950 – )Journalist, Print journalist
Winner in 2001 of the Walkley Award for Most Outstanding Contribution to Journalism, Estelle Blackburn spent six years researching and investigating the cases of two men convicted of killing women in Perth in the 1960s. As a result of the fresh evidence she gained and her book on the case Broken Lives the State Attorney-General agreed to reopen the two separate cases of the convicted killers.
Giles, Boronia Lucy (Bonnie)
(1909 – 1978)Journalist, Print journalist
Bonnie Giles studied journalism in Western Australia in the 1920s but struggled to balance study, work and family and failed to complete her diploma. This did not, however, stop her from establishing an enduring career. She wrote under a variety of pseudonyms for the Perth Daily Mail the best known of which – ‘Mary Ferber’ – became a household name. For twenty years her column, which was essentially a ‘Dorothy Dix’ column, was a ‘Monday must for her admirers’. Giles also used her column and considerable community standing to advance philanthropic causes that were close to her heart. She retired from journalism in 1969.
Hackett, Deborah Vernon
(1887 – 1965)Charity worker, Entrepreneur
Deborah Hackett was the wife of Sir John Hackett, and, after his death, she married Sir Frank Moulden. It was Lady Hackett-Moulden who called a meeting in May 1920 to oversee the reestablishment of the South Australian Council of Women. She was also State Commissioner of the Girl Guides Association.
In 1923, Lady Moulden (as she became after her second husband was knighted) joined F.W. Young to form a syndicate to mine tantalite at Wodgina. She became Chairman of Directors of Tantalite Ltd in 1931. She also held interests in wolfram and beryl mines in the Northern Territory, and a partnership in the Minilya Pastoral Company. The University of Western Australia conferred an honorary LLD on Lady Moulden in 1932. In 1936 she married Justice Basil Buller Murphy.
Shelley, Cecilia Moore
(1893 – 1986)Union activist
After working in the hotel and catering industry, Cecilia Shelley took on an active role in the Hotel, Club, Caterers, Tearooms and Restaurant Employees Union (HCCT&REU). She became secretary in 1920 and under her influence the HCCT&REU became one of the largest predominantly female unions in the country. Shelley was also an active member of the Australian Labor Party.
Moffit, Constance Pauline
(1906 – 1988)Social worker
With her friend and colleague Norma Parker, Constance Moffit was largely responsible for convincing the Catholic Church in Australia to establish the Catholic Social Service Bureau. The Melbourne branch of the CSSB opened in 1936, Sydney in 1941, and Adelaide in 1942.