John Anthony Gorrie PSM (born 10 March 1950) is the first Aboriginal Australian person awarded the Public Service Medal, in 2005.
John Anthony Gorrie[1] was born on 10 March 1950 to single mother and Gunaikurnai woman Linda,[2] and was placed in the Royal Park children's home[3] in Melbourne.
[2] The authorities returned him to her after she married Carl Turner and applied for custody, and he grew up with her at Lake Tyers Mission, an Aboriginal reserve.
[2] He is a Kurnai elder of the Krauatungalung clan, whose traditional lands are located in East Gippsland in Victoria.
[3] Gorrie started work as an Aboriginal liaison and advocacy officer and in the Victorian Department of Human Services[2] in 1991, and was the only Indigenous worker there when he began.