Toni Tapp Coutts

Toni Tapp Coutts (born 7 November 1955) is an Australian author who has written extensively about her experiences growing up in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Biography Tapp Coutts was born in Alice Springs and grew up on Killarney Station after moving there when her mother, divorcee June Clements (née Forscutt) married cattleman Bill Tapp when she was 9 years old. She moved there with her mother and her two siblings; Billy and Shing. On the station, they lived in a shack with no electricity or running water, and found conditions very taxing. When Tapp Coutts and her family arrived at the house, it had a hand-painted sign stating 'Cockrag Downs'; she said the meaning of 'cockrag' was "broken down and uncared for". She said that she had an amazing childhood growing up with Aboriginal people, the Olkolo people, and being able to be part of observing and learning about their way of life.

In 1994, they moved together to Katherine and, in her time there, she has been a board member of the NT Writers' Centre and coordinator of the Katherine region of the Writers' group. She is also a member of the Katherine Museum, Katherine Community Markets and has organised and participated in many local festivals and events including the Katherine Flying Fox Festival, the Fringe Festival and the Barunga Festival. She also served an elected member of the Katherine Town Council for 25 years (1996–2021) and ran, unsuccessfully, for the 2008 Northern Territory general election as an Independent.

She is a breast cancer survivor and overcame a major spinal infection in 2013 to 2014. During this time she formed a lobby group to establish a chemotherapy unit and cancer support office in Katherine. Coutts, Toni Tapp (2010). Walking the Wet. In Meanjin. 69 (1), 143–147. Tapp Coutts, Toni (2016). A sunburnt childhood : growing up in the Territory. Hachette Australia, Sydney, NSW.

Collections In 2020 and 2021 Tapp Coutts donated a collection of Personal and Community Archives (PCA 7) to Library & Archives NT: this collection consists of magazine and newspaper clippings, correspondence, personal papers and notes, event notices, ephemera, newsletters, CDs and posters relating to her family and community.