Public servant shares wide-ranging impacts of discrimination

Experiences of discrimination in all aspects of life were and continue to be common for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Prominent Tagalaka woman and long-term public servant, Dr Dawn Casey, described her experiences with social services as well as discrimination in her work life in a speech at the 2015 Mabo Oration.  

Casey recounted the time she tried to help her father get Old-age Pension in the mid-1970s. She described it as a ‘most difficult learning experience’. Like many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Casey’s father didn’t have a birth certificate. Because of this, it was hard to prove that he was old enough to be eligible for the pension. Casey said this experience left her with an ‘unconscious resolve that government policies and systems needed to change’ (Casey 2015:12).  

Casey talked about how she went on to experience discrimination herself throughout her long career in the Australian Public Service.  

Despite her excellence, Casey was often told she didn’t have the required education to continue her role. ‘Recruitment practices and policies severely limited employment and promotion opportunities for women and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people,’ she said. 

Casey sought out further education to continue to progress, however, she felt discrimination against her only escalated, regardless of whether she was told she was doing a ‘good job’. Even as Director of the National Museum of Australia, she was ultimately told her contract would not be extended because the government was looking for someone with a PhD. Casey would go on to receive 3 honourary doctorate degrees. 

Casey’s speech holds examples of the long-lasting and wide-ranging impacts of the marginalisation of Aboriginal people in Australian society.