Our Committee
The Wirlomin Noongar Language and Stories Incorporated Committee consists of:
Graeme Miniter
Chairperson
Olivia Roberts
Vice-Chairperson
Mary Gimondo
Secretary
Lefki Kailis
Minute Secretary, Liaison Treasurer
Maxim Business Solutions
Treasurer
Ted Farmer
Committee Member
Cass Lynch
Committee Member
Kim Scott
Committee Member
Glenda Williams
Committee Member
Graeme Miniter
Chairperson
Graeme Miniter was born at the Gnowangerup Mission to parents Roy Miniter and Elaine Miniter nee Brown . He attended primary school in Borden, Mt Lockyer and Spencer Park and high school in Albany. Upon leaving school Mr Miniter has worked for the Education Department as an Aboriginal Liaison Officer, Department of Indigenous Affairs and the Southern Aboriginal Corporation as a program manager. He also served as Chairperson of the Executive Board at South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council.
Olivia Roberts
Vice-Chairperson
Olivia Roberts is a proud Wirlomin lady. She has broad shoulders and a big heart, having worked for decades in Aboriginal health throughout the Great Southern region. Orphaned at 10, she has grown up with a strong kinship with extended family who have instilled the importance of heritage, culture, family values and respect for others. Olivia has been an executive board member for the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council, Aboriginal Legal Services, Southern Aboriginal Corporation, The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission and National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Alliance. In 2024 Olivia was named Albany’s Senior Citizen of the Year.
Mary Gimondo
Secretary
Mary Gimondo writes grant applications and acquittals and liaises with funding and sponsor bodies and has more than 30 years experience in this field. She is a past secretary of the CBCA WA, has a background as a children’s librarian and has worked for the Education Department and in Public Libraries. Mary has also worked in special and law libraries and recently retired from the Australian Tax Office where she worked as a business analyst. In 2008 Mary was awarded the CBCA WA Muriel Barwell Award for Distinguished services to children’s literature. Mary is also involved with committees within the community.
Lefki Kailis
Minute Secretary
Lefki Kailis has a professional background as a librarian, English teacher and Teacher-librarian. Her professional practice has always focused on social justice, respect for the natural environment, and philosophy. She has been the National President of the Children’s Book Council of Australia and National Judge of the CBCA Book Awards.
Lefki has worked with a team headed by Whadjuk Noongar Elder and leader Kerry-Anne Winmar and including James Webb, Honey Webb and Dulcie Donaldson to produce a short documentary titled Aboriginal Habitation along the Derbal Yerrigan pre European settlement. She has been intimately connected with the Wirlomin family since 2006.
Ted Farmer
Committee Member
A proud Wirlomin man and the oldest son of Olivia Roberts and John Farmer.
Ted has lived and worked in the Great Southern Region for most of his life.
He finished his schooling in Albany, then entered employment with the City of Albany, the Western Australian Police Service and is now working in the Mining sector.
He has very strong family connections with his immediate and extended families and is wanting to grow as a future leader within his family and for his people.
Cass Lynch
Committee Member
Cass Lynch is a Koreng Wudjari Noongar woman, and is descended from the families of Ravensthorpe in the Great Southern region. She is a writer and researcher, and has recently completed a PhD in Creative Writing that explores Noongar stories that reference climate change. She speaks and writes in the Noongar language, and is currently a Research Fellow at Curtin University where she works with Professor Kim Scott on the revitalisation of south coast Noongar songs and stories.
Kim Scott
Committee Member
Kim Scott is an award-winning Noongar author who has worked extensively in Indigenous education and the arts. Kim’s second novel, Benang (1999), won a number of literary awards, including The Miles Franklin, which he won for a second time with That Deadman Dance (2010) along with the South-east Asia and Pacific Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, the Australian Literary Society Gold Medal and other accolades. His work has been translated and published in China, India, Holland, Japan and France.
Kim was awarded a Centenary Medal and in 2012 was inaugural Western Australian of the Year. He is a member of the West Australian Writers Hall of Fame and in 2022 was declared a State Cultural Treasure. Kim is currently employed as Professor of Writing in the School of Media, Culture and Creative Arts at Curtin University.
Glenda Williams
Committee Member
Glenda was born on the Gnowangerup Mission site and went to school in Gnowangerup. She moved to Albany and went to school locally. She is a Senior Health Worker with Great Southern Aboriginal Health and works in lower and central Great Southern when the need arises. She is a talented visual artist. Being involved with Wirlomin is important to her because it means connecting with family, reconnecting with the old people from long ago, getting back on Country, knowing the history of our people and re-learning and speaking language.