June Oscar

After returning to Fitzroy Crossing, Oscar worked in state government community welfare and health departments, before becoming the Junjuwa Community Women's Resource Officer in 1989.

She then became the Chairperson of the Marra Worra Worra Aboriginal Corporation, one of Australia's oldest and most respected Aboriginal community centres, until 1991, when she was appointed Commissioner of the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Commission for a two-year term.

When she was 29 years old, Oscar received a phone call from Aboriginal Affairs Minister Robert Tickner asking her to join the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission.

She hung up the phone because she thought the call was a hoax but then decided to call him back.

In 1992, Oscar became Chairperson of the Western Australia Aboriginal Women's Advisory Committee, in 1997, deputy director and Executive Member of the Kimberley Land Council, in 2000, Director of Bunuba Films Pty Ltd, and in 2001, Director of the Bunuba Cattle Company.

Oscar didn't think she was capable of studying at tertiary level, but completed a Bachelor of Business degree in 2004 and commenced a PhD research degree in 2011 at University of Notre Dame, Australia.

In 2007, she was chosen to be Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Marninwarntikura Women's Resource Centre (MWRC).

In March 2007 Oscar became CEO of the MWRC in Fitzroy Crossing, that incorporated initiatives such as the Baya Gawiy Children and Family Centre, The Shelter women's refuge, a legal aid unit, a community garden, and a social enterprise.

The MWRC were committed to protecting the safety and wellbeing of children, and wanted to stop the violence that was occurring in their communities as a result of alcohol abuse.

In 2007, the Fitzroy Crossing Hospital was treating around 30 to 40 people per night for alcohol related injuries and the community was in a state of crisis.

In the same 12-month period, 55 funerals and 13 suicides were recorded in Fitzroy Valley, a town of approximately 4000 people.

In a city the size of Perth, this would have been equal to 500 suicides per month.

In response to calls from the community, the State Coroner for Western Australia, Alistair Hope, commissioned a coronial inquest into 22 recent deaths by self-harm in the Kimberley region.

The number of deaths by self-harm in Fitzroy Valley were found by the Coroner to be extraordinarily high and there was a "very high correlation between death by self-harm and alcohol and cannabis use".

Oscar then organised the 2007 Annual Women's Bush Meeting, a traditional gathering of Bunuba, Gooniyandi, Walmajarri, Wangkatjunka and Nyikina women.

They represented a significant segment of the community and gave their consent to the MWRC beginning a campaign to limit the sale of take-away alcohol in Fitzroy Valley.

A community-led intervention to the crisis was formed that proved to be fundamental to its success.

After the Women's Bush Meeting, Oscar wrote to the Director of Liquor Licensing (Western Australia) asking for an initial 12-month suspension of take-away liquor sales in the Valley.

The MWRC maintained that alcohol restrictions were required because high numbers of alcohol and drug related suicides were happening in the Valley, people were in a perpetual state of grief and despair and their women's refuge was not able to cope with the number of people seeking protection from domestic violence.

Unacceptably high numbers of medical outpatients were suffering from alcohol abuse, and at the local hospital 85% of trauma patients were affected by alcohol and 56% of all patients were under the influence of alcohol when they were admitted.

It was even becoming normal for children to drink alcohol.

In 2009, Oscar was appointed Chief Investigator of the Lililwan Prevalence Study on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and Early Life Trauma.

In 2010, she became Chairperson of the Kimberley Language Resource Centre, and was considered a strong advocate for the recognition, rights, preservation and promotion of Australian Aboriginal languages.

In the same year, Oscar also became a member of the Western Australian Pastoral Lands Board.

In 2013 Oscar was awarded the Order of Australia for "distinguished service to the Indigenous community of Western Australia, particularly through health and social welfare programs".

In 2013, Oscar was elected Councillor to the Derby / West Kimberley Shire, and in 2015, appointed Board Member of the Kimberley Development Commission.

June Oscar is an Australian Aboriginal woman of Bunuba descent, Indigenous rights activist, community health and welfare worker, film and theatre, and since 2017 and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner.

She is best known for her fight against Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and work in improving the lives of Aboriginal people in remote communities, in particular the Kimberley (Western Australia) town of Fitzroy Crossing.

In February 2017, Attorney-General for Australia George Brandis announced that Oscar was the new Australian Human Rights Commission's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion said, "Ms Oscar's appointment demonstrates the central role Indigenous women play in bringing about social change and I look forward to working closely with her in the future".

she is still in this position.

In October 2019 she was appointed to the Senior Advisory Group to help co-design the Indigenous voice to government.

Born in Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia, Oscar was the second of her mother Mona's three girls and three boys.

Her biological father was a local white Australian cattle farmer whom she only met once as an adult.

At the age of seven, authorities removed Oscar from the care of her mother and placed her into the United Aborigines Mission in Fitzroy Crossing.

Recognised by the missionaries as being a clever child, she was later sent for secondary education at John Forrest Senior High School in Perth, before leaving at the age of 16 to return to Fitzroy Crossing.

She joined Quentin Bryce as joint patron of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation in September 2019.

In November 2019, it was announced that Oscar would be one of 20 members of the Senior Advisory Group to help co-design the Indigenous voice to government set up by Ken Wyatt, the Minister for Indigenous Australians.

The Group is co-chaired by Wyatt, Marcia Langton and Tom Calma.

Oscar is co-chair of the Close the Gap campaign, along with Rod Little.