Gladys Elphick

Gladys Elphick (27 August 1904 - 19 January 1988) was an Aboriginal woman of Kaurna and Ngadjuri descent, best known as the founding president of the Council of Aboriginal Women of South Australia, which became the Aboriginal Council of South Australia in 1973. She was known to the community as Auntie Glad.

Early life

Gladys Elphick was born Gladys Walters in Adelaide but was raised at Point Pearce Mission on the Yorke Peninsula. On leaving school at age twelve, Elphick worked in Point Pearce's dairy. Elphick married Walter Hughes, a shearer, in 1922. After her husband's death in 1937, Elphick moved to Adelaide, lived with her cousin Gladys O'Brien, and worked as a domestic. She married Frederick Elphick in 1940. Her second husband was a soldier. Elphick worked at the Islington Railway Workshops in Adelaide's northern suburbs during World War II creating shells and other munitions.

Community work

Elphick joined the Aborigines Advancement League of South Australia in the 1940s and became active in committee work with the League in the 1960s. In 1964, Elphick became the founding president of the Council of Aboriginal Women of South Australia, a role she served until 1973. The Council was active in campaigning for the Referendum for Constitution Alteration (Aboriginal People) 1967. The Council became the Aboriginal Council of South Australia in 1973, and from then included men in its remit and governance.

Also in 1973, Elphick was involved in setting up the Aboriginal Community Centre, and served as its treasurer, and helped establish the College of Aboriginal Education in 1973. She co-founded the Aboriginal Medical Service of South Australia in 1977.

Awards and Honours

Gladys Elphick was appointed to the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1971 in recognition of service to the Aboriginal community.

She was named South Australian Aborigine of the Year in 1984, during National Aborigines Week.

A plaque honouring Gladys Elphick and her work for the community became part of the Jubilee 150 Walkway, a series of 150 bronze plaques set into the concrete on North Terrace, Adelaide commemorating "a selection of people who had made a significant contribution to the community or gained national and international recognition for their work".

From 2003, an award has been named in her honour presented by the International Women's Day Committee (South Australia), a Community Spirit Award Acknowledging Outstanding Aboriginal Women

External links

• E. M. Fisher, 'Elphick, Gladys (1904–1988)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, [5], published in hardcopy 2007, accessed online 19 April 2014.