About me
Isabel Coe
Isabel has spent 15 years working in both Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Organisations and her previous roles include Acting Chief Executive Officer, Acting Work for the Dole Coordinator, Aboriginal Project Officer, Employment Consultant, Client Service Officer, Youth Mentor and Court Services Officer.
Isabel is a qualified trainer and now specialises in the design, development and implementation of delivering high quality face to face training packages delivered around Aboriginal Cultural Awareness Training and Cultural Competency. She is particularly interested in educating Australians on the history of Aboriginal people, teaching of the impacts of Colonisation and providing an awareness on the advantages and disadvantages of Aboriginal people’s position in today’s society.
Isabel has a diverse range of experience who communicates with sensitivity and in a respectful manner with her style of delivery being inclusive and non-confrontational. She is passionate towards creating a better future for Aboriginal people and the many generations to come and as a Traditional Owner she enjoys teaching and sharing her cultural knowledge on Wiradjuri Culture from the Lachlan River.
Photo by John Jason-Moore
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FACS Simply the Best Customer Service Awards
Cowra families commemorate ultimate sacrifice at opening of WW1 memorial grove
Cowra families commemorate ultimate sacrifice at opening of WW1 memorial grove
After receiving over 600 nominations for the Simply the
Best Customer Service Awards, we are excited to announce the 2015
Awards finalists. The Awards recognise the outstanding contributions
of FACS employees who have helped break the cycle of disadvantage.
Customer Service Individual Excellence Award
FINALISTS: Isabel Coe
Isabel is an inspiring Aboriginal woman who has developed an innovative training program called “Through My Eyes”.
Her mission is to break down barriers between people and foster a greater understanding of Aboriginal people in the community.
Isabel is a Client Service Officer at FACS Housing Services, Southern District. She is based in Queanbeyan and as part of her program she speaks about her experience as an Aboriginal woman living in today’s society. She talks about her upbringing and the challenges she faces believing it may resonate with the experiences of many clients who also come from a diverse range of backgrounds. Many have high and complex needs and some clients may present difficult behaviours at times. Isabel says she relishes the opportunity to grow and develop, and to use her skills to benefit the wider community.
Cowra families commemorate ultimate sacrifice at opening of WW1 memorial grove
Cowra families commemorate ultimate sacrifice at opening of WW1 memorial grove
Cowra families commemorate ultimate sacrifice at opening of WW1 memorial grove
Coe, Beatty and Hood
These are just a few of the last names of the 78 Cowra soldiers who never returned home after WW1. Their ultimate sacrifice was commemorated on Saturday morning with their descendants planting trees in their honour in the newly established WW1 memorial grove in the Cowra Peace Precinct.
In a short ceremony before the tree planting, Cowra Mayor, Councillor Bill West said it was a small way for the Cowra community to remember the fallen. "It's wonderful to see so many families who have come this morning to pay their respects, to plant a tree, to mark that very special contribution that so many people did make," Cr West said.
Councillor Ray Walsh, who spearheaded the project, said the idea for a memorial grove came from a similar tree planting more than 100 years ago and will also be used as a habitat for the superb parrot population in the area. "Commencing in 1917, a tree was planted for each of those men on the Boorowa and Grenfell Roads, those trees were planted through the determination of Abigail Ruth Fitzgerald, an aunt of Edward Harold Fitzgerald, who was killed in France," he said.
"Today, with many family members gathered here, it's appropriate that we acknowledge the families of those 78 men, we cannot comprehend the pain of parents, siblings, wives and children who received that dreaded telegram."
During the Welcome to Country, Wiradjuri woman Isabel Coe, a descendant of John Henry Alfred Coe and his nephews Cecil, Elijah, Walter and John who all served in WW1, said the event was also an opportunity to commemorate the sacrifice made by Aboriginal people during the war and the discrimination they faced on their return home.
"I feel it is imperative that whilst we honour the men and women who did not return from the war, we also remember the local men and women who did return from the war, including those, who upon their return, were not treated as equal citizens and acknowledge the local Aboriginal history," she said.
"When the Australian troops returned from the war, they were greeted with a hero's welcome. "Aboriginal men and Aboriginal women fought alongside their countrymen... they however, had to go back to what they were before they went to war, being forced to line back up in the missions or reserves where they would become our forgotten heroes."