A Sister Kate’s child forever

A Sister Kate’s child forever

As one of the Stolen Generation, Sue Gordon lived at Sister Kate’s in Perth as a child in the late 1940s. Now, her dream to create an aged care community for Aboriginal people in the grounds of the Queen’s Park residential home is closer than ever. By Gabi Mills. Portrait by Ammon Creative.

The story of Sue Gordon AM is inextricably linked to Sister Kate’s - the cottage-style home in Queen’s Park which housed Aboriginal children just like Sue, for many years from 1934. To understand a little more about Sue’s subsequent drive to preserve the Sister Kate’s name and create a uniquely Aboriginal aged care home on the site, it’s important to take a walk back in time.

Sister Kate (or Katharine Mary Clutterbuck as she was known, before becoming a nun) left England in 1903 aboard a boat with several orphans from the slums of the time, and immediately began her life’s work of caring for the forgotten and the dispossessed, just outside Perth. Joined by Miss Phoebe Ruth Lefroy, the women used their private incomes and seemingly boundless energy to create a children’s home in Parkerville. Although the Anglican Church did not contribute financially, when the pair began to reach an age where such relentless daily toil was arduous, the church took over and installed their own sisters from an Order in Brisbane. At the time, Sister Kate was 70 and Miss Lefroy a sprightly 60 years of age and despite this high-handed decision to oust them from the home they had created, their determination to continue helping children in need remained undimmed.

Thanks to the Aborigines Act 1905 (WA), Miss Lefroy owned 40 acres of land in Queen’s Park which was conveniently much closer to Perth than Parkerville. The women had identified - way ahead of their time - that there was an urgent need for a home to be established for part-Aboriginal children who nobody really knew what to do with. Thanks to the Aborigines Act 1905 (WQ), the Government was legally allowed to seize part-Aboriginal children from their parents and kin and place them in institutions, like New Norcia, run by Bishop Salvado and the Moore River Native Settlement at Mogumber.

As an alternative to these sometimes brutal orphanages, Children’s Cottage Homes (soon referred to as Sister Kate’s) was founded in 1934, taking the first children on June 2. Made up of two cottages and a kitchen, followed by a

Sue Gordon is in the middle of this photograph outside Sister Kate's, with a very short haircut.

chapel in 1937, the housing was very difficult to the more stark institutional-style dormitories of other similar organisations. Without exception, the children who arrived were in terrible shape - all suffering from scabies, many with eye diseases and ear infections. Sister Kate would immediately place them in the Children’s Hospital for treatment before they returned to their new home at Sister Kate’s.

For many children who lived at Sister Kate’s, those they shared their lives with may not have been their blood families - but the bonds they formed were as strong as natural siblings. Sue Gordon spent 14 years at Sister Kate’s, arriving as a four year old. Just as the main house currently on the site was being finished, Sue arrived in the late 1940s. Sister Kate had died in 1946, leaving Miss Lefroy in charge. “We called her Friend - I remember she seemed pretty ancient to me with pure white hair,” says Sue. “I lived in Nursery Cottage when I arrived and then moved into the main house when I started high school. I was a good kid - but it did depend on the house mother who looked after you whether you have good memories or not.” House mothers would look after groups of the children and unusually for the time, children would live together as if they were part of a family, with different age groups together. This may account for the unusually strong bonds and lasting relationships the ‘Homies’, as ex-residents of Sister Kate’s call themselves, have to this day. Many house mothers would come and go, perhaps escaping something like a bad marriage or between positions - but some stuck in the memory. “I remember one arriving in a fur coat and driving a Jaguar,” says Sue. “She got us our first TV - it was coin-operated. We got 2 shillings a week pocket money and that bought us half an hour’s viewing.” The fur-coat wearing woman would take Sue and other kids to Victoria Park where she’d go to a jewellers. “They had a TV in the corner and we’d all watch it - no shillings required.” Although Sue’s memories of her time at Sister Kate’s are warm, she’s under no illusion about how hard the children were made to work to keep the home running smoothly. “It was like a normal household in many ways,” she says. “As soon as you reached primary school age, you’d have jobs. We only had wood-fired stoves, so you’d light a fire under it to boil a kettle and make porridge, then it was time for more chores. We’d race to the kitchen to stand on a bench (because I was too short), to peel potatoes and string beans for the evening meal.” Only the older kids were trusted with the big heavy knife to chop pumpkin, Sue recalls. “Then it was off to chapel and school across the road - we were always running late.” At lunchtime, the children would head back to the home, then after school, they would change into one of the two sets of clothes they owned. “Every weekend, we’d be doused with kerosene to keep nits under control. The house mother would cut our hair - we’d call them Prince Valiant hair cuts,” says Sue, referring to the bowl cuts all the kids sported. The weekend was no time for shirkers; the little children would go to the wood heap to collect wood chips to heat the one bath - which the children would all share, while the boys chopped wood which would be used on the open fires.

“Eventually we got showers when I reached upper primary,” she said. “On the summer, we used to sleep on the verandahs which was lovely.” There were some high points during those post-Second World War days in Perth. “There was an Annual Orphan’s Day picnic which the city would hold for all the orphans and kids in care,” she remembers. “We would go to the Ambassadors and Royal cinemas, given more lollies than we could eat and as the policemen would hold up traffic, all hold hands and cross the road in the centre of the city. We’d then catch the ferry to the zoo and ate so much food we were sick.”

The children shared those 14 years of her life and became her family. “We still help each other out - it’s a unique bond.” Sue may refer to those she shared Sister Kate’s with as her family but they aren’t her only family. Thirty years later, her Aboriginal family found her and at long last, Sue was reunited with her birth relatives.

“I was told that I was an orphan, and that was a long time to believe that version of events. I have three families - my Sister Kate’s family, my Aboriginal family and my own family.”

“My legacy is tied up with the kids I grew up with. We had a dream to get the land here back and we did that,” she says. “Some of the ex-Sister Kate’s children are now in their 80s and 90s but we all still feel like kids. I’d give my last two dollars to those kids and it wouldn’t worry me one bit.”

Sister Kate surrounded by children

Sister Kate’s and Hall & Prior forge ahead with new facility

Anew Aboriginal-specific health and aged care facility on the site of Sister Kate’s in Queen’s Park will open mid-2024, with a $10million boost from the WA government. The new project led by Sister Kate’s in partnership with Hall & Prior will create an 80-bed home for Aboriginal residents, with cultural and spiritual-specific programs for Aboriginal seniors.

It’s an important step because it has been identified that Aboriginal people have limited access to mainstream aged care. As reported in The West Australian, Ben Wyatt, the nowretired Aboriginal Affairs Minister, said Aboriginal elders deserve to have access to aged care services designed for their needs.

Plans for a new Aboriginal aged care facility are proceeding at the Sister Kate's site in Queen's Park

Since 2005, Hall & Prior has offered a dedicated Aboriginal care program at its Windsor Park aged care home. Some 30 beds are dedicated to Aboriginal residents - and this has been recognised as industry-leading and unmatched in the Perth metro region. The development at the Sister Kate’s site will allow a significantly higher number of places to be offered. It will also enable the implementation of Aboriginal design principles, including incorporating larger outdoor and gathering spaces to more closely represent bush life.

The time would come when Sue had to leave Sister Kate’s and with little clue where to live or what to do, an advert to join the army caught Sue’s eye. “It all sounded great,” says Sue, and with four other WA girls, she headed off to Sydney with the Women’s Royal Australian Army Corps (WRAAC) where she became a signals operator. Sue says she is still friends with some of those girls nearly 60 years later. Sue worked across Australia, is married and has two sons. In the mid-1980s, she was appointed as the Commissioner of Aboriginal Planning, becoming the first Aboriginal person to head-up a WA government department. She was later asked to take up a position as the first Aboriginal and first full-time Magistrate in the Children’s Court of WA - without a law degree. Sue’s only background was that she had sat as a Justice of the Peace in Port Hedland for a couple of years. After a few years on the Bench, she decided to do a law degree at the age of 50, completing it part-time eight years later. After 20 years on the Bench, Sue retired and in 2007/2008, was the Chairperson of the Taskforce heading up the Northern Territory Emergency Response. Fast forward to the present day, and Sue’s new ambition is to ‘be alive’ so that she can see the next stage of the Sister Kate’s story come to fruition. The McGowan Government recently confirmed it would contribute $10million towards a new Aboriginal specific health and aged care facility at the Sister Kate’s Queen’s Park site.

In partnership with Hall & Prior, the 80-bed facility will be designed to specifically address the cultural needs of Aboriginal seniors - some of who may be Sister Kate’s original residents as children.

Sue Gordon’s inspiring life

1961 to 1964

Sue served as a full-time soldier with the WRAAC in the Signals Regiment as a Cipher/Signals operator.

1990

Sue was appointed as one of the first commissioners of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC).

2002

Sue headed up an inquiry into family violence and child abuse in WA’s Aboriginal communities. The report ran to 640 pages and made 197 findings and recommendations.

Born in 1943

Sue was taken from her mother and family at the age of four from her home near Meekathara in north west WA, and sent to live at Sister Kate’s in Queen’s Park, Perth from 1947 to 1961.

1986

Sue was appointed as Commissioner for Aboriginal Planning - the first Aboriginal to hold the office in WA, and also as a magistrate in the Perth

Children’s Court - also the first Aboriginal in this role.

1993

Sue received the Order of Australia in recognition of her work with Aboriginal people and community affairs.

Present

Since her retirement Sue has, and still sits on numerous Boards around Australia.

App offers insight into Country

The Welcome to Country app should be on all our phones - offering Aboriginal insight into each part of Australia.

Imagine you are on the road, travelling through Australia’s unique cities, towns and communities when an alert pops up on your phone advising you that you have now entered the boundary of a traditional tribal group. Intrigued, you dig a little deeper and are directed to an informative video where an Elder or knowledge carrier warmly welcomes you and provides you with important information about their country. Whether you’re an Australian resident or - once COVID restrictions lift - a traveller from overseas - the Welcome to Country app is a great example of how a digital innovation is able to modernise engagement with Aboriginal communities across Australia. Developed a few years ago by Ngarluma man Tyson Mowarin, the app includes information about 37 different groups around Australia, from the Bundjalung to Gangulu people, to the Whadjuk and Yinjibarndi mobs. “I remember people talking about how Kevin Rudd speaks Mandarin and although he could say hello at the foot of the Great Wall of China, our Prime Minister at the time couldn’t say hello at the foot of Uluru,” said Tyson. “I wanted to teach people how to speak the languages and acknowledge all our different nations. I wanted to create an extension of the traditional Welcome to Country, and this app is designed to complement the real thing.” The app, which was launched in 2016, was prescient in many ways. There’s a drive underway among many schools to introduce lessons reflecting the local Aboriginal language rather than foreign languages like Indonesian or French.

Using an archive of Welcome to Country videos and messages, the app shows details of the boundaries of the tribal area as well as messages about cultural safety from the traditional land group. Tyson and his team engaged with local Elders and knowledge carriers and worked with Indigenous media practitioners to create educational content in an app that seeks to transcend Native Title.

It’s hoped that the reach of the app will extend into the skies - once air travel becomes commonplace again. “It would be amazing to see a major airline get on board and then they can use the Welcomes on the plane as they descent into various countries,” said Tyson.

To download the app for free, search for ‘Welcome to Country’ on the iTunes app store. The app recognises where you are as you pass through invisible geofences and offers the viewing of Welcome to Country before directing you to the relevant tribal page.

Honouring our Indigenous residents

The Hall & Prior Group provides safe and secure homes to many Indigenous elders - here are some stories from our WA and NSW homes which celebrate Aboriginal traditions throughout the year.

NAIDOC WEEK 2021 takes place from July 4 to 11, and the theme is Heal Country!

NAIDOC Week celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is celebrated by all Australians and is a great opportunity to learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Kindy kids visit Grafton

It’s a highlight of the residents at Grafton’s month - a visit from the Gummyaney Pre-School kindy kids. Together, the two vastly different age groups do exercises together (including yoga and stretches) and focus on speaking and understanding the local Indigenous languages. These include Bundjalung (north of Clarence River/ Grafton Bridge) and Gumbaynggirr (south of Clarence River/Grafton Bridge). Then it’s usually time for a sing-a-long in their local language. For one resident - Roy Cameron - it’s an especially lovely moment to share with his grandson Jarlii, who attends the pre-school.

Fairfield’s harmonious ceremony

As part of Harmony Day celebrations at Fairfield Aged Care Home, the residents enjoyed a live performance of an Aboriginal Smoking Ceremony performed by Uncle Josh Bell. Josh told them many stories from Aboriginal culture, then performed some dance rituals, while explaining the symbolism and importance of each dance to his culture.

Other highlights from this event included our residents performing some dances under Josh’s instruction and the fun the group had creating their own picture. The finished work of art will hang proudly on Fairfield’s hallway wall and features a yellow circle in the centre which represents ‘earth’, surrounded by the images that the residents created as they became honorary members of the Gwealqalbidjiga tribe. Thank you to Uncle Josh Bell and Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation for taking the time to share your valued culture with us.

Men share a yarn

Grafton’s Indigenous Men’s group runs every Tuesday where the group of gents enjoy a free lunch while sitting around for a yarn with locals in the Indigenous community. The men look forward to this day and often get to connect with local family and friends.

Mary-Lou returns to Country

Windsor Park Aged Care Home in Carlisle assists Aboriginal care residents to return to their regional and desert communities. Co-ordinated by Wendy Ashwin, one such returning resident was MaryLou (pictured) - a great outcome for all concerned.

Aged care breakfast draws a crowd

Business News hosted a sell-out breakfast to discuss the future of the sector in Western Australia - with Hall & Prior leading the way. By Gabi Mills.

The need to recruit skilled workers in aged care faces challenges thanks to the fact those working in the sector are paid about 30 per cent less than those working in hospital settings. That was the stark message the assembled 700 aged care professionals were told at a special Business News breakfast at the end of May. Launching the ACIL Allen Consulting report, commissioned by a group of aged care providers, including Hall & Prior, analysed the social and economic benefits of the sector.

With proceedings opened by Hon. Roger Cook MLA, the Deputy Premier and Minister for Health, Medical Research, State Development, Jobs and Trade and Science acknowledged that we all live in an ageing society with the need for adequate aged care solutions growing as each year passes. It was, he said, the responsibility of all of those present to care for older Australians, and he promised to advocate to the Government on behalf of Western Australia’s uniqueness in terms of the state’s size in delivering care. “We are so grateful for all that you do,” said Mr Cook. “We are fortunate in WA to not have had the same experience as elsewhere in Australia,” he said, referring to the affects of COVID-19 in aged care facilities over east. This underlined the ‘utmost importance’ of the effective and timely roll-out of the vaccine, and he said that nobody was safe until we all were safe.

The report’s findings included an estimate to grow the aged care workforce by more than double over the next ten years - adding to the pressure on labour issues in the sector.

A distinguished panel of aged care leaders included Jennifer Lawrence (Chief Executive at Brightwater Care Group), Stephanie Buckland (Chief Executive at Amana Living), John Nicolaou (Executive Director at ACIL Allen Consulting) and Sharon Parker (Director for the Centre of Transformative Work Design at Curtin University). The wage parity issue between those who work in the aged care sector and those who work in hospitals needs to be addressed, the panel asserted - which in turn would make a career in aged care much more sustainable and attractive.

The figures around aged care’s contribution to the Western Australian economy are incredible: by the end of the decade, the report estimated that it would contribute $6.2billion to gross state product, pay $5.1billion in salaries and wages, and employ nearly 60,000 people. For every $1 invested in the aged care sector, there was a social and economic return of $2.11.

Graeme Prior, CEO of Hall & Prior, one of the founding aged care groups involved in contributing to the report, said that the business breakfast was a valuable opportunity to highlight to the business community just how important the aged care sector is in terms of its fiscal contributions to the nation. “The benefits of providing dedicated, compassionate aged care go well beyond the effects on an individual,” he said. “With well-run and organised aged care, society can avoid healthcare costs, avoid disability and provide employment for a significant number of women and men. It’s an industry like no other and projected to grow as much as 60% over the next decade.”

INFORMATIVE EVENT Above, Hon. Roger Cook MLA, kicked off proceedings. Left, the distinguished panel and below, Gary McGrath, Commonwealth Bank and Graeme Prior, CEO of Hall & Prior.

Graeme Prior will be representing the aged care sector at the WA Jobs Summit on June 30.