Life Summary - Ellie Joan Gaffney - Indigenous Australia

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Life Summary

Name	Ellie Joan Gaffney
Alternative Names	Ellie Joan Loban
Born	18 August, 1932 Thursday Island, Queensland, Australia
Died	13 October, 2007 (aged 75) Thursday Island, Queensland, Australia
Cultural Heritage	Indigenous Australian Indonesian Torres Strait Islander Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.
Education *	Thursday Island State School for Coloured Children (student) Injinoo (Cowal Creek) Aboriginal Mission (student, 1937-1939) Royal Brisbane Hospital (nursing student, 1954) Queensland Institute of Technology (student, 1979)
Occupation or Descriptor *	midwife (1961-1980) Queensland, Australia nurse (general) (1961-1980) Queensland, Australia hospital matron (general) (1963-1980) Queensland, Australia social welfare advocate (1980-2000) Queensland, Australia Indigenous rights activist/supporter (1981-2007) Queensland, Australia autobiographer/memoirist (1984-2006) Queensland, Australia
Awards	Member of the Order of Australia (recipient, 1990)
Key Organisations *	Island Coordinating Council (Qld) (member) ABC Queensland Advisory Council (member, 1980) Torres Strait Co-operative Society (director and chair, 1981-1993) Torres Strait Islander Media Association (co-founder, 1985) Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (council member, 1986) Mura Kosker Sorority (founder, 1988-2007)
Key Places *	Cherbourg settlement (Qld) (resident, 1942)
Workplaces *	Royal Brisbane Hospital (nurse, 1954) Royal Brisbane Women's Hospital (midwife, 1957) Thursday Island Hospital (nurse, 1961) Aboriginal Hostels Ltd (employee, 1980) Dept of Social Security (federal) (agent, 1982)

* Dates are approximate