An Indigenous cattle station manager from Queensland has been crowned Barnardos Mother of The Year.
Keelen Mailman, who along with caring for 2,300 head of cattle at Mt Tabor Station – an award winning Indigenous Land Corporation property run under licence to her Bidjara people – is foster mother to four nieces and a nephews as well as mother to her own three children.
She was nominated by her niece and foster daughter, Fay Anderson, who credits her aunt for saving her from a life of abuse, neglect and despair.
“Around 14 years ago I didn’t want to live anymore,” Fay Anderson said.
“Aunty Kay became the mother I dreamed of. The mother I always wanted. When someone asks me, ‘Who pushes you to want something so big for yourself?’ All I can say is that I want everything the world has to offer because of this beautiful woman.
“She taught me to never accept less then I deserve; I wish I could give her the world. I hope she knows how much I love her.”
Mailman, now an author and the first Aboriginal woman to manage a cattle station left school at the age of 13, she had her first child at 16.
But it was at the age of 12 when she began protecting children.
Keeleen Mailman's book The Power of Bones.
As a 12-year-old growing up in a tin shack at the Yumba, near Augathella, in western Queensland she took it upon herself to look after her brothers and sisters when her mother had a stroke at the age of 38.
She told The Australian that at one stage after a policeman threatened her with “the welfare” when she was 14 she spent an entire year in hiding, caring for her siblings and mother, getting them to school, sending them our for supplies and washing their clothes in a kero tin under the house at midnight.
She says that on the day of her 15th birthday- after a year of hiding - she walked out into the world again, no longer legally required to attend school, safe in the knowledge she had kept her family together.
It was this legacy of family, of looking after them, of putting them first, that has seen her through to this day.
"I was a kid myself, I just knew that it was the strength that I dug deep for and just stepped into the role, it was my turn to do it all, so to speak, to keep the family together," she told Fairfax Media when she won Queensland Mother of The Year.
"I stepped into the role, I didn't have time to reflect. “
It was the same mentality, of family, that saw her win the battle to get legal guardianship of her five nieces and nephews when she was 34.
Her sister had been gang-raped, had experienced brutal domestic violence and her children had suffered the brunt of her breakdown.
Mailman knew she needed to step in.
"At first I went through the procedures, I didn't have any money to get legal people, I just knew I had to step up to the plate and represent myself," she said.
"It was pretty hard and pretty scary, I only had a half school of education.
Mailman with her niece and foster daughter, Fay Anderson. Via Barnardos.
She told The Sun Herald that after receiving help from the women’s legal service in Townsville she was granted guardianship of the five children.
‘‘I didn’t have a lot of money or anything but it doesn’t cost anything to give love,’’ she said.
‘‘Having them with me as their blood aunt, it is like another mother in my culture anyway.
‘‘It was very important for them to keep their identity and be out on traditional country so they could learn the Aboriginal culture. You can get lost when you are taken away from your country.’’
At a ceremony in Sydney Barnardos ambassador and award MC, Lisa Wilkinson made the announcement.
Mailman now manages Mount Tabor Station, 700km west of Brisbane. She says that station is one of the best upbringings a child can have.
She often has troubled kids from the local community stay on the property to learn about the land and indigenous traditions.
"I’ve had a lot of indigenous and non-indigenous kids come out over the years and I try to guide them away from drugs and alcohol," Ms Mailman told The Longreach Leader.
"The greatest gift I ever got was from my mum. To pass on that traditional knowledge to the kids makes me so proud, they’re always so keen to learn and take it in."
This inspiring woman is someone we can all learn from.
“Children are our future, they’re innocent little people, so it’s about being an inspiration and a mentor and guide them and be their ear and just give love and cuddles and discipline as well.”
“Just having them out here, hearing their stories and watching them grow, I’d do it time and time again, I just tackle it, tackle it as it comes along.”