Freda Briggs

Freda Briggs (1 December 1930 – 6 April 2016) was an Australian academic, author and child protection advocate. In 2000, she was named Senior Australian of the Year for her pioneering work in child protection.

Early life and education Briggs was born Freda Akeroyd on 1 December 1930 in Huddersfield, England. She had one brother, nine years her junior. She attended Deighton Council School and Royds Hall School.

Briggs worked briefly as an office clerk at Imperial Chemical Industries She said in 2007 that she joined the police after seeing an advertisement in a local paper seeking female police recruits, noting that it offered free accommodation and food. She completed a graduate degree in education and obtained postgraduate qualifications in psychology and sociology at the University of Sheffield and became a lecturer in child development. and the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. She advised police forces in Australia and New Zealand

Briggs was a patron for the Adelaide Women's and Children's Hospital paediatric palliative care project and a South Australia ambassador to the prime minister's department on the recognition of women. She also campaigned with success against mandatory retirement from the workforce at 65.

Awards and honours Briggs was the inaugural recipient of the Australian Humanitarian Award in 1998.

In 2009, Briggs received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from the University of Sheffield for outstanding research, publications and contributions to education relating to child abuse and child protection.

Selected publications Books

PUB L 169.

Book chapters

Journal articles