Draft:Valerie French (journalist)

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Valerie (Val) French AM

(Australian Journalist, Activist, Debater and Academic)

Val French was a journalist, debater, academic and dedicated social advocate for older people and those without voice.

Early life

French was born on 20 October 1927 in Sydney, New South Wales, the first of two children. Her father, Dr Alfred Theophilus Edwards, was one of the few psychiatrists employed by the New South Wales Health Department in the 1920’s. He later ran a private practice in Macquarie Street, Sydney. Her mother, Thelma, was a homemaker, socialite, and keen sportswoman. Her younger brother, Lawrence (Laurie), became a general practitioner.

French’s early childhood centered around the psychiatric hospitals where her father worked as medical superintendent. Firstly, Morisset Psychiatric Hospital, near Newcastle NSW, from the time she was two years of age, then Gladesville Hospital and Callan Park Hospital, Sydney from the age of eight.

Conditions in these hospitals at the time were poor and her father initiated major changes, including psychotherapy and Occupational Therapy to improve the lives of the patients by providing purpose and meaning. His book Patients Are People. is an iconic outline of his approach. These formative childhood years walking alongside her father instilled in French a strong sense of the need to improve the plight of those less fortunate and provide the opportunity to find their potential.

Education

French attended Park College Drummoyne, then Methodist Ladies College, Burwood, Sydney, where she developed her interest in debating. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts with majors in English and History from Sydney University in 1948.

Teaching, debating and lecturing

After university, French became a teacher at Queenwood College, Mosman, then Ravenswood, where she encouraged debating skills amongst the female students.

In 1957, French, her husband Barrie and young daughter moved to Brisbane. She wanted to join the men’s only Queensland Debating Union but was prohibited as a woman. However, during one competition her husbands’ team was a person down. French stepped in and the team won. She successfully pushed for women to be included in debating, winning the A grade competition, became secretary of the Queensland Debating Union and established Brisbane’s Portia Club to further women’s debating.

Her presence in the debating scene attracted considerable media attention in those very conservative days in Queensland. She objected quite publicly when the Courier Mail referred to her as Mrs Barrie Ffrench when reporting their debating victory and demanded a retraction. French was given several guest interview spots on radio and early current affairs programs where she promoted her progressive views on women in society. In what became known as “The Cabbage Controversy”, French sparked particular social debate saying, women failing to fulfil themselves, became stagnant like cabbages. She was misreported as saying all married women who didn’t work were cabbages. French argued that a wife’s role is not a “supporting role” and that women should participate more in the world around them and fulfil themselves

French was involved in prison reform. She was founder and vice president of Self Help, an organisation helping prisoners at Brisbane’s Boggo Road Gaol. There she established two debating clubs and coached the prisoners. The prison teams became an active part of the Brisbane debating circuit. She set up a school run by volunteers to educate the inmates, which assisted in their rehabilitation.

French became an English tutor at The University of Queensland in 1971. In 1974 she received her Master of Literary Studies majoring in Journalism, which included a sponsored research visit to Journalism schools in the United States. She used this as the basis of her work in co-designing the esteemed journalism course at Queensland Institute of Technology where she lectured until her retirement in 1987. The course focused on practical skills, with students regularly producing and delivering the news on local radio station 4EB.

She had a passion for women’s issues and established a weekly broadcast, Women’s Radio. Many prominent Australian journalists were trained at QIT during that time.

Mental Health

After retirement French became involved in mental health, active at state and federal levels. She was part of the National Association of Mental Health and vice president of the Queensland Association of Mental Health. She worked to provide greater support for the family and friends who care for loved ones with mental illness. In 1988 she was integral in establishing the carers’ organisation, Carers Queensland, successfully lobbying for federal funding.

Aged care

French soon became a passionate advocate for older Australians. She was a member of the Federal Standards Review Panel which examined Nursing Home standards and was an active member and Queensland Chair of The Older Australian's Advisory Council. Her extensive contributions to policy and advisory committees, including as Chair of the Commonwealth Forum of the Aged, saw her working closely with government and often briefing Prime Ministers Hawke and Keating. For over a decade she was involved in improving nursing home and later retirement village conditions, culminating in the establishment of the accreditation program used for nursing homes.

In 1993, French founded the independent organisation Older People Speak Out (OPSO) to gauge older people’s experiences and opinions and advocate for more positive portrayal of older people in the media. OPSO’s research insights provided a voice to government departments, business advisory communities and the media. From 1994 OPSO ran the National Media Awards for 18 years, acknowledging constructive media coverage of issues affecting older people.

In 2008, French was invited to participated in the Australia 2020 Summit, to help shape a long-term strategy for the nation's future with a focus on strengthening communities, supporting families and social inclusion.

Personal life

French met Barrie Ffrench at a debating party in Mosman, Sydney and they married in 1953. They moved to Brisbane in 1957 where she lived for the remainder of her life. By 1963 they had four children. They separated in 1967 and were later divorced in 1970.  After they separated French dropped the second “f” in Ffrench.

French passed away on 12 March 2020, surrounded by her family in Brisbane at the age of 92. She was survived by three children and six grandchildren.

Awards

French was awarded:

• The Order of Australia in 2001, for service to the aged, particularly through the organisation Older People Speak Out, to the community as an advocate for social change, welfare reform, expansion of educational opportunities and human rights, and to journalism.

• The Centenary Medal, 2001, for distinguished service to the elderly in Queensland.
• Finalist, Queensland’s Senior Australian of the Year Honours 2006.
• Commonwealth Senior Australian Achiever Award 1998.
• The National Council of Women of Queensland offer the Val French AM Memorial Bursary for a student in journalism.

External Links

1.   Journalism Education & Research Association of Australia

2.   Australian Journalism Review 2020.

3.   Vale Val French.

4.   Courier Mail.