Caroline was awarded the AM, the Membership of the Order of Australia, in June 2014. She was honoured and humbled to receive the award, which was for her service in the area of healthcare for Aboriginal and recently-arrived immigrant women. She appreciated then, and appreciates now, the work and convictions of those people who made her award possible.
However in January 2021 Caroline made the decision to return the Award to the Governor-General of Australia, David Hurley. This was to demonstrate her belief that the decision of the Order of Australia Awards Committee to elevate Margaret Court from the level of AO (Officer) to that of AC (Companion) was highly inappropriate, given Court’s repeated use of homophobic and hate speech about LGBTQI+ people over many years. Caroline was one of at least seven previous awardees who made this decision.
More information about Caroline’s decision can be found in a blog she wrote for the Croakey health website
