Talking with Aunty Glendra Stubbs it feels like you have known her your whole life. She is funny, warm, understanding and open minded. Which is exactly the qualities you want in an Elder-in-Residence.
Aunty Glendra describes the role as a person you can talk to when you don’t know who else to talk to. It is someone that has your best interests at heart; is not going to be judgemental, and has life experience to back up their support.
“There is nothing that you can think of that I haven’t seen, witnessed or been a part of in my life,” she says. And yarning with her, you really do feel comfortable to tell her anything.
Aunty Glendra at Tribal Warrior Biggest Boot Camp for the Bushfires at the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence. Photo credit: National Centre of Indigenous Excellence.
Aunty Glendra Stubbs is a Wiradjuri woman, her mob originates from the Mudgee/Dubbo and Narrandera area. She has been the UTS Elder-in-Residence for about 7 months, taking over from the recently retired, exceptional Aunty Joan Tranter, who was in the role for 7 years.
She has 40 years experience providing advice and practical assistance to survivors of trauma. And has a long experience in supporting families and working through the issues that arise from out-of-home care.
Aunty Glendra has worked with a number of state and national bodies including as an Aboriginal Engagement Advisor for the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the National Stolen Generations Alliance, and Metro Migrant Resource Centre. She also has been the Aunty in Residence at the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence in Redfern for nine years.
She mostly grew up in the Warrimoo area of the Blue Mountains, New South Wales and still commutes from the Blue Mountains to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students at UTS.
The eldest child, she grew up with four brothers and her parents, living in a shed, often without running water or power. Her Dad was a fettler, and she says that the railways made a big difference to their lives as some of her brothers also went on to do apprenticeships with the railways too.
Aunty Glendra started off her working life at 15 years of age at a bank in the city as a junior admin worker – or as was known in the day, a Girl Friday. She would use the money to support her family.
She worked at the bank for years until she became pregnant with her first child and was forced to resign, as was common practice at workplaces back then.
She eventually cared for nine children and worked with her husband running the family engineering business before she went back to work at Link-Up NSW as the finance person in the early 1990s. Link-Up was founded in 1980 to assist all Aboriginal people who had been directly affected by past government policies; being separated from their families and culture through forced removal, being fostered, adopted or raised in institutions.
Aunty Glendra worked her way up through Link-Up eventually becoming the CEO and establishing a range of services to address the intergenerational impacts of the removal of Aboriginal children from their families and communities.
Aunty Glendra Stubbs with the Minister for Maori Development. Photo credit: National Centre of Indigenous Excellence.
She says her light bulb moment for wanting to fight so hard, was that she deeply understood child removal, but didn’t understand the process of adoption, and that the birth parents were erased from the birth certificate. Then these adopted children would have to pay to try and find their birth parents, and she thought, why should you pay for information that is yours? She then lobbied NSW Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages and didn’t stop until she made sure people didn’t have to pay for their identity.
This is Aunty Glendra all over, someone who has spent her life supporting and caring for people; always going above and beyond.
She just remembers what her Dad always told her, “if you’ve got a chance to make a difference for your mob, you’ve got to do all you can.”
As the Elder-in-Residence she plays a significant cultural, knowledge sharing, mentoring and social role for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students; aimed at enhancing Indigenous student retention and success. She represents UTS through community engagement initiatives and contributes to the wellbeing of Indigenous staff and students by being available to meet with them and provide cultural support.
On top of all of this, Aunty Glendra has also undertaken tertiary studies in Social and Emotional Wellbeing and Narrative Therapy to better inform and strengthen her work. And has 23 grandchildren!
The Jumbunna team says her role is incredibly important at the moment with the unusual circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic leading to many students returning to their communities and studying remotely. Aunty Glendra is adamant about offering students her number and the students eagerly take it up.
She says “it’s great to see the yearning for learning is really supported at UTS. There’s a real trust that’s been built between the students, Jumbunna and the university.”
Aunty Glendra Stubbs with a group of students. Photo credit: National Centre of Indigenous Excellence.
The team says that students feel a sense of connection to their own community through Aunty Glendra’s eldership. They often miss their Nan’s, Pop’s and Elders and the Elder-in-Residence contributes to a sense of belonging and a supportive environment. The role is one of the elements that helps students feel connected to the university and contributes to retention rates.
“I just want the students to succeed and know they belong at university. If I can help a student to complete their studies, or support them through any doubts or troubles, then I’m doing my job.”