KAMBALA
OLD GIRLS (KOG)

Jessie attended Kambala in the late 1800s. In her Senior examination she won a gold medal for first place in the State and a silver medal for excellence in Ancient History. In 1903 she was President of the Kambala Union.

Jessie studied medicine at The University of Sydney and graduated in 1906 with an M.B. and Ch.M. Jessie was the first woman to be appointed resident Medical Officer at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, however the Conjoint Board refused to confirm her appointment. This provoked a strong public outcry and her father, Reverend Arthur Ashworth Aspinall, published a letter in The Sydney Morning Herald protesting the decision. The Board relented and confirmed her appointment, determining that she had succeeded in open competition with men and was therefore entitled to the position.

Jessie became resident Medical Officer in the Hobart General Hospital, then served on the staff of Crown Street Women’s Hospital, Sydney. She made a career in private practice and was school doctor for The Scots College.

Jessie took an active interest in public life, serving on the executive of the National Council of Women Australia, the Australian Red Cross, on the Appeals Committee of the Young Women’s Christian Association, and as a member of the Sydney executive of the Victorian League.

In 1915 she married Mr Ambrose Freeman and had four children. Jessie donated her Bowral home Berida to the Australian Red Cross. It became a convalescent home for ex-servicemen and then housed children aged under thirteen that provided temporary care. Today it is a magnificent boutique hotel that houses children aged five to 12 years.

Image copyright: Museums of history NSW-State Archives Collection: NRS-9873-1-[2/741]-R2589.

Following her education at Kambala, Lucy founded the charity DanceAbility. Lucy’s guiding principle behind the charity was the sentiment of ‘the ability for everyone to shine on stage’. DanceAbility is a community group that teaches people of all ages with physical or mental disabilities to dance.

In 2009, Lucy founded DanceAbility in a small Scout Hall in Clovelly with 12 students and six volunteers. It has grown into a top-class dance school with enrolments capped at 70 participants and 20 dedicated volunteers.

Lucy’s first child, Patrick was born with Down Syndrome and is among the hundreds of people who have experienced the sheer joy of dancing to music at DanceAbility. Patrick and his DanceAbility community have performed to 10 sell-out crowds at their annual concerts and have performed at various corporate fundraising events over Sydney. As they dance, the only thing that’s clear to see is ability, ability, ability.

The benefits of the dance program are huge. The combined health benefits of exercise and the strong sense of belonging to this rich community are profound. Not to mention the positive impact this all has on the extended community of family and friends.

This is the special gift Lucy has given with grace, humility and love in her heart to the DanceAbility community and it is one which will remain her enduring legacy.

After graduating from Kambala in 2010, Louisa studied Arts/Law at the Australian National University ANU. She began her career working as a lawyer at MinterEllison and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre in Sydney. Louisa’s interest in refugee issues prompted her to pursue a Master’s degree in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies at Oxford University. 

After graduating, Louisa completed a fellowship with the Colombia-based legal organisation, Dejusticia, investigating the rights of Venezuelan refugees and migrants. She then moved to Geneva to work in policy and research at the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. Louisa led research projects on displacement linked with conflict, disasters and climate change in Africa, the Asia Pacific and Latin America to inform humanitarian policy and programming. She organised workshops with government representatives and UN agencies and advocated for inclusive responses to displacement at international conferences. She authored various publications, including the first global report on internally displaced people with disabilities. 

Louisa is currently working for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Ecuador, where she is supporting Colombian and Venezuelan refugees to be resettled to safe third countries. 

Chanel graduated from Kambala in 2015. She then completed a Commerce Degree majoring in Information Systems and an Arts Degree majoring in International Development at the University of New South Wales.

In 2020, Chanel moved to London to complete a Masters in Education, Gender and International Development at University College London. From there, she started a petition that called for earlier and more holistic consent education as a means of reducing rates of sexual assault in Australia. Her petition spurred national conversation and began to remove the taboo placed around being a survivor of sexual assault, as thousands told their stories.

Chanel founded Teach Us Consent, a campaign that mandated consent education in Australia. Chanel worked closely with politicians, including Prime Ministers to achieve this. Chanel was the recipient of the Australian Human Rights Commissions Young People’s Medal in 2021 for this work, and in 2023 she was named NSW Young Woman of the Year for her persistent efforts towards eradicating rape culture.

Chanel has also been presented a Diana Award, the most prestigious accolade a young person can receive for their humanitarian work and in 2022 she was listed as one of BBC’s 100 inspiring and influential women worldwide. Chanel was recently appointed by Julia Gillard to Chair the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership’s Youth Advisory Committee.

Chanel’s first book, Consent Laid Bare, continues the discussion ignited by the Teach Us Consent movement in 2021. Chanel’s friends from Kambala are still her best friends today.