Mollie Dyer

Mollie Geraldine Dyer (1927–1998) was an Aboriginal Australian child welfare worker and community worker, best known for co-founding the Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency in 1977. In later life, she was a respected elder and spokesperson, known as "Auntie Mollie".

Early life and education Mollie Geraldine Dyer, later known as "Auntie Mollie," was born in 1927 in Barmah, Victoria, Australia, of Yorta Yorta descent. She was the daughter of Margaret Tucker, an Aboriginal activist involved in establishing the Australian Aborigines League, and Philip Tucker, an Irishman.

Dyer grew up in Hawthorn and Hastings and was educated at a convent school in Abbotsford, where she was the only Aboriginal pupil. She would frequently travel to New South Wales to stay with her mother's family at Cummeragunja Mission. When Dyer's father was serving overseas during World War II, Dyer, aged 15, left school to enter the workforce, where she experienced significant racism. Dyer worked to establish the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC) in 1981.

In the 1980s, Dyer was a respected elder and spokesperson. She was part of the group that established the Brambuk Living Cultural Centre in Halls Gap and held positions on numerous boards and committees. She also organised several awareness-raising conferences for public servants.

She received the International Year of the Child Award and the Advance Australia Medal. The Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency headquarters was named in her honour.

According to her entry in the Victorian Aboriginal Honour Roll, "Through her efforts she challenged institutionalised prejudices at the highest levels, forging a legacy of respect and understanding that lives on today".

In 2012, she was inducted into the Victorian Aboriginal Honour Roll.

A street in the ACT suburb of Bonner is named after her.