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Tania Major - First Lady
Tania Major has got a lot of firsts on her track record and with her
determination, there’s bound to be plenty more where that came from.
In 1999, no-one from Kowanyama in Cape York had ever finished Year 12–Tania changed that. She was also the first in her community to complete a university degree, the youngest member of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), and that she was the first non-sporting Indigenous Young Australian of the Year for her influence in state and national education/health policy and activism.
Education is the key
From an early age Tania was a risk-taker, a stereotype-breaker, and a straight-talker. Determination to overcome the violence in her community stirred those qualities into radical action.
‘I realised I was the only person who could change things, and the only way was through education. I needed the knowledge, tools and confidence to get people listening and realise there’s more to life.’
At 15 and encouraged by parents whose mantra was ‘education, education, education’, Tania stepped into the unknown and went to boarding school in Brisbane.
Crime and conviction
The move wasn’t easy, but experiences of discrimination and an early decline from straight A’s at home to D’s in Brisbane only made Tania more determined.
‘I thought, this is my opportunity. It will make or break me, and if it breaks me, I’m still going to get back up.’
Tania completed her criminology degree at Griffith Uni, and went back to Kowanyama adamant that through role modelling and leadership, she could help young people change their circumstances and achieve greater goals.
As an advocate
At 21, Tania became the youngest member of ATSIC. Five years on, she was announced Young Australian of the Year in recognition of her leadership and community work with young Indigenous people.
‘That’s been an incredible honour,’ Tania said. ‘But I was just as proud when my niece came home to Kowanyama as our first degree-qualified nurse.’
Tania is now the youth advocate at Aboriginal leader Noel Pearson’s Cape York Institute, running three successful youth talent development programs.
Looking to the future
Tania’s got a dazzling array of ideas for the future. Her next ambition is a Masters degree in public policy at Sydney Uni, then research at Oxford in England.
Around and beyond that, it’s business—a lobby group to influence government policy, a motivational speaking consultancy, running clothing and jewellery companies for women, and a real estate company. These concepts all work on a community development model where Indigenous people learn, own, and operate the business–empowering others to achieve their own ‘firsts’.
