Boonwurrung nurse and activist Louisa Briggs will be one of six Trailblazing Women advocates, artists, and agitators to be celebrated in new public artworks across the state as part of the $1.2 million Victorian Women’s Public Art Program.
This was announced on International Women’s Day after more than 10,000 Victorians voted on which women they would like to see immortalized through public art.
Louisa Briggs was born on the south coast of Melbourne in the 1830s. As a young girl, she was kidnapped by sealers and taken to Preservation Island in Bass Strait.
In the 1870s, Louisa joined Coranderrk Aboriginal Station (near Yering, north of Melbourne in the Yarra Valley) with her family, where she worked as a nurse and midwife.
Louisa became the first Aboriginal woman to be paid for her services, a groundbreaking achievement during a time when government policies actively marginalized Aboriginal communities.
Despite these early hardships, Louisa became a force for change and justice, dedicating her life to improving the lives of First Nations people.
N’arweet Carolyn Briggs is her great-granddaughter. Louisa died in 1925 in New South Wales.
Other women celebrated
Other stories selected in the 2025 Victorian Women’s Public Art Program include:
• Aunty Margaret (Lilardia) Tucker MBE – Footscray
• Montsalvat Artist Community – Eltham
• Barbara Rae – Bendigo
• Aunty Dorothy Peters AM – Knox
• Wonthaggi Miners’ Women’s Auxiliary – Wonthaggi
Less than two percent of statues across Victoria are of women, and many of these are women with their husbands, partners, or other men. There are more statues of animals than of women in Victoria. For more information on the 2025 Victorian Women’s Public Art Program, visit vic.gov.au/victorian-womens-public-art-program.
Side note: No news yet on the Mirka statue
A call by Cr Serge Thomann for a statue honouring Mirka Mora is being considered as part of Port Phillip Council’s 2025/26 budget process.
