Lois Peeler AM
Former Sapphires singer turned educator, uniting Indigenous values with Western academia.
Lois is also a political activist, passionate educator and principal at Australia’s only Aboriginal girls’ boarding school.
Lois is of Yorta Yorta and Wiradjuri heritage through her mother and Wurundjeri heritage through her father. She grew up on her mother’s country on the Murray River and the Cummeragunja Aboriginal Reserve.
Lois’ up-bringing included family life on the Cummeragunja Aboriginal Reserve and the Mooroopna Flats where activism for improved conditions for Aboriginal people was deeply embedded. She grew up surrounded by strong men and women who, based on their personal experiences, led the fight for equal rights for Aboriginal people to education, healthcare, housing, legal services, and enfranchisement.
Lois has had a diverse career in the music industry, public service, community development, social activism, tourism, and Aboriginal education. One of the original members of The Sapphires, an all-girl singing group from the 1960s, she is also acknowledged as Australia's first Aboriginal model and TV presenter.
Lois has worked in a range of roles in Indigenous affairs and began her career in the community sector as Assistant Director of the Aborigines Advancement League leading to senior positions in the State and Federal public service (spanning 16 years in public sector Aboriginal Affairs).
Lois headed Aboriginal Tourism Australia for more than a decade leading Indigenous tourism development and was co-author of Respecting Our Culture (ROC) the first Aboriginal tourism accreditation program for tourism businesses operating in the Indigenous sector.
Throughout her diverse career, Lois has held positions in the community, government, corporate and philanthropic sectors. Lois was Coordinator of the Federation of Aboriginal Women, Koorie Women Mean Business, and a member of the Victorian Women’s Advisory Council. She was appointed for a term as Acting Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People (Victoria) and was a trustee on the Fairley Foundation. Lois is currently Chair of the Department of Justice Eastern Metropolitan Regional Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee (RAJAC), a member of the Aboriginal Justice Caucus and state-wide Aboriginal Justice Forum and Chair of the Aboriginal Independent Prison Visitors Program.
At Worawa Aboriginal College in Healesville, Lois welcomes students from some of Australia’s most remote regions, many of whom have been exposed to trauma and dysfunction in their young lives. Lois oversees a holistic approach to education that brings together Aboriginal knowledge, values and pedagogy and Western academic leadership.
A powerful role model for her students, staff and community, Lois instils pride and confidence in her students, and helps them gain a deep appreciation of their culture, encouraging the celebration of Aboriginal ways of knowing, doing and being. More than a principal, Lois is also an Elder of the Yorta Yorta people, with the abiding responsibility of nurturing Aboriginal culture, history, and identity in an education framework.
Lois is co-author of Yorta Yorta Language Heritage publication, author of The Cultural Landscape of the Flat publication and was instrumental in the development of “The Flats” DVD which she directed.
In 2003 Lois received The Centenary Medal for her work in tourism. In 2014 she was made a Member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia for her significant service to the Indigenous community as an educator, advocate, and role model. In 2017 she was Senior Victorian of the Year and in the same year she was awarded a Doctor of Social Science, Honoris Causa, by RMIT University. In 2020 she was inducted into the Victorian Women’s Honour Roll.