Gladys Agness Newton

Gladys Agness Newton born Gladys Agness Miller (March 6, 1901 – November 24, 1988) was an Australian community worker. She started the Slow Learning Children's Group which became the Activ Foundation and in 2023 it had over 2,000 employees.

Life Newton was born in 1901 in Paddington near Kalgoorlie. Her parents were Mabel Lucy (born Addicott) and Robert Henry Miller. Her father ran a shop. She left Kalgoorlie aged sixteen and she became a stenographer in Perth. the Slow Learning Children's Group of Western Australia was formed. Newton was the group's organising secretary. The group's core value was that their children were Australian citizens and the state had a duty of care. They believed that their children did not require mainstream schools but facilities where they could be trained. They wanted to see workshops and segregated schools for their children and, when they became adults, then again separate establishments. The Slow Learning Children's Group became the Activ Foundation and it had over 2,000 employees in 2023. In 1967 her work was recognised during a debate at the Western Australian parliament.