A lifetime of service, cultural leadership and community care has been recognised through the story of Aunty Helen Morgan (née Gaye Solomon), a proud Bidwell, Gunai and Gunditjmara woman whose work has helped shape Aboriginal health and community services across East Gippsland.
Born in Orbost, Aunty Helen is the eldest daughter of Agnus Ritchie and Henry Banjo Clarke, and was raised by her mother’s sister Edna Solomon and her husband Albert Solomon. As the eldest of 15 children, she grew up in a role that required early responsibility, learning to guide, nurture and support others from a young age.
Her early life was shaped by hardship, poverty and the everyday reality of racism experienced by Aboriginal families prior to formal recognition of Indigenous rights. As a young girl, she worked in paddocks to help support her family, an experience that helped shape her lifelong commitment to caring for others.
Known widely in the community as “Mummy Nanny”, Aunty Helen is a mother, great-great-grandmother and long-time foster carer, recognised for opening her home and heart to many children over the years.
That same instinct to care for others has defined her life’s work.
In the early 1980s, Aunty Helen began working at what was then Bairnsdale Hospital as a cleaner before being appointed in 1982 as the hospital’s first Aboriginal Liaison Officer. The role saw her travel across the region supporting Aboriginal patients and families, helping them navigate hospital care and linking them with housing and community services.
Over two decades in the role, she became a trusted bridge between the hospital system and the Aboriginal community, ensuring families were treated with dignity, respect and cultural understanding during times of illness and grief. In 2025, 40 years after beginning her work at the hospital, she was awarded Life Governorship of the Bairnsdale Regional Health Service.
Aunty Helen was also part of a pioneering group of Aboriginal women in the early 1960s who established the East Gippsland Aboriginal Women’s Group alongside Aunty Nessie Skuta and others. What began as informal gatherings in homes and community halls grew into a movement advocating for Aboriginal-designed services.
That work helped lay the foundations for Bairnsdale’s first Aboriginal Medical Service in 1975, which later became the Gippsland and East Gippsland Aboriginal Cooperative (GEGAC). Today, GEGAC is recognised as a cornerstone of Aboriginal self-determination in the region.
Aunty Helen’s contribution to its early development helped ensure Aboriginal people in Gippsland gained access to culturally safe, community-led health services, while also advancing broader goals of pride, autonomy and self-determination.
She went on to serve on the GEGAC Board, worked within the medical service, and continued to advocate for improved funding and support alongside other community leaders.
Beyond formal roles, Aunty Helen is known for her practical, hands-on support of families. She established a breakfast program at Bairnsdale Primary School and has consistently supported children and families with food, care and guidance.
Her commitment to education has also been a constant theme throughout her life. As a Koori educator, she supported Aboriginal students in schools, helping young people find confidence, identity and belonging in education settings that were not always welcoming.
Even in retirement, Aunty Helen has continued to contribute her time to kindergartens, schools, Uniting in Gippsland, TAFE and adult education programs.
Her influence extends beyond institutions and programs, with her cultural leadership and community knowledge continuing to guide younger generations.
Aunty Helen Morgan’s legacy is reflected in the organisations she helped build and the lives she has supported along the way — a lifetime of service grounded in care, resilience and community strength.
