# Justine Saunders

Justine Florence Saunders (20 February 1953 – 15 April 2007) was an Australian stage, television and film actress. She was a member of the Woppaburra, an Australian Aboriginal people, from the Kanomie clan of Great Keppel Island in Queensland. On the small screen she appeared in numerous series, mini-series and telemovies.

## Screen roles

Saunders having started her career in theatre, made her screen debut in the television serial Rush in 1974, but first came to prominence as a cast member of soap opera Number 96 in 1976, as Rhonda Jackson. in a brief story arc portraying a character defending the rights of indigenous Australians. Subsequently, in 1986 she became best known for her role as social worker Pamela Madigan in the serial Prisoner.
Other television credits include: Skyways, Women of the Sun (1981), Farscape, Blue Heelers, and MDA.
Her film work includes The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith and The Fringe Dwellers.

## Personal

Saunders was born next to a railway track. At the age of 11, as a member of the Stolen Generation, she was removed from her mother Heather and taken to Brisbane and placed in a convent. Heather was not told of Justine's whereabouts for more than ten years, and spent much of that time searching for her.
In April 2007, Saunders died of cancer at Hawkesbury District Hospital, Sydney, aged 54.

## Honours and awards
### Order of Australia Medal

In 1991, Saunders was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), for her services to the performing arts, her services to the National Aboriginal Theatre, and for her assistance in setting up the Black Theatre and the Aboriginal National Theatre Trust.
In 2000, through the indigenous Senator Aden Ridgeway, she returned the medal in protest at the emotional turmoil her mother was suffering over the Howard government's denial of the term "stolen generation".

### Other awards

* 1985 inaugural Aboriginal Artist of the Year award.
* 1999 Red Ochre Award - Australia Council for the Arts

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1974 | Essington | | TV movie |
| 1977 | The Cake Man | | TV movie |
| 1978 | The Death Train | Greg's wife | TV movie |
| 1978 | The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith | Nancy | Feature film |
| 1983 | Chase Through the Night | Mary | TV movie |
| 1984 | Mail Order Bride | Irid | TV movie |
| 1986 | Charley's Web | Joan Lynch | TV movie |
| 1986 | The Fringe Dwellers | Mollie Comeaway | Feature film |
| 1988 | Touch the Sun: Top Enders | Elva | TV movie |
| 1991 | Until the End of the World | Maisie | Feature film |
| 1992 | Jindalee Lady | | Feature film |
| 1997 | The Tower | Louise | TV movie |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1974 | Rush | Werowey | TV series |
| 1975 | Ben Hall | Jununji | TV series |
| 1976 | Luke's Kingdom | Aboriginal girl | TV series |
| 1976 | Number 96 | Rhonda Jackson | TV series |
| 1977 | Pig in a Poke | Maureen | TV series |
| 1977; 1984; 1985 | The Mike Walsh Show | Guest | TV series, 3 episodes |
| 1978 | Against the Wind | Ngilgi | TV miniseries |
| 1979 | Top Mates | | TV miniseries |
| 1979 | Skyways | Flight attendant Helen Smith | TV series |
| 1981 | Women of the Sun | Mérida Anderson | TV miniseries |
| 1982 | Silent Reach | Allison Burnie | TV miniseries |
| 1986 | Prisoner: Cell Block H | Pamela Madigan | TV series |
| 1987 | A Country Practice | Brenda Dwyer | TV series, episode part 1 and 2: "Birds of Prey" |
| 1988 | The First Australians | Co-presenter | TV anthology series |
| 1992 | G.P. | Dolly | TV series |
| 1989-1992 | The Flying Doctors | Bessie / Magistrate Krum | TV series |
| 1992 | The Midday Show | Herself (with Jack Thompson) | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1994 | Heartland | Millie Carmichael | TV miniseries |
| 1996 | House Gang | President of Australia | TV series |
| 1998 | The Violent Earth | Aunt Junie | TV miniseries |
| 2000 | Farscape | Altana | TV series |
| | Blue Heelers | Annie Baker | TV series |
| 2002 | MDA | Ruby McKinnon | TV series |

## Theatre
### As actor

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1975 | The Cake Man | | Black Theatre Arts and Culture Centre |
| 1976 | Basically Black | | Space Theatre, Adelaide |
| 1977 | The Cake Man | Mother / Ruby | Bondi Pavilion |
| 1980 | Bullie's House | Duluma (Doolie) | Nimrod Upstairs |
| 1981 | Buckley's! | Del | Playhouse, Adelaide |
| 1982 | The Cake Man | | University of NSW Parade Theatre, Universal Theatre, Melbourne |
| 1983 | The Marginal Farm | | Russell Street Theatre |
| 1984 | The Cake Man | | Phillip Street Theatre |
| 1985 | Bullie's House | Duluma (Doolie) | Long Wharf Theatre |
| 1987 | No Trouble | | Universal Theatre, Melbourne |
| 1987 | Coordah | | Curtin University |
| 1988 | Not the 1988 Party! | | Belvoir Street Theatre |
| 1988 | Capricornia | | Belvoir Street Theatre, Parramatta Cultural Centre, Darwin Performing Arts Centre, Canberra Theatre |
| 1988 | The 16th Australian National Playwrights' Conference | | UNSW Parade Theatre |
| 1989 | A Special Place | | Cremorne Theatre |
| 1989 | The Currency Lass | | Q Theatre, Penrith |
| 1990 | Capricornia | Junie / Sally / Fat Anna | Playhouse, Adelaide, Playhouse, Melbourne |
| 1991 | The Crucible | | Sydney Opera House |
| 1994 | No Sugar | | Ballina Street Bridge, Lismore |
| 1994 | Sistergirl | | Russell Street Theatre |
| 1995 | Because You are Mine | | ANU |
| 1996 | The Commission / The Aboriginal Protesters | | Weimar, Germany, Berlin, Germany, The Performance Space Redfern |
| 1996 | Island in the Sun | | Price Theatre, Adelaide |
| 1996 | Black Mary | | Sydney Street Theatre, Brisbane |
| 1997 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Kangaroo | Wharf Theatre with Sydney Theatre Company |
| 1999 | Conversations at the Ryan Hotel | | Star Court Theatre, Lismore |
| 2000 | La Dispute | Carise | Wharf Theatre |
| 2000 | Black Medea | | Wharf Theatre |
| 2001 | Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival 2001: The Stars Are Brightly Shining | | State Theatre, Sydney |
| 2001 | The Twilight Series | | Collins Street Baptist Church, Melbourne |
| 2003-04 | Last Cab to Darwin | | Octagon Theatre, Perth, Sydney Opera House, Broken Hill Entertainment Centre, Orange Civic Theatre, Glen Street Theatre, Manning Entertainment Centre, Newcastle Civic Theatre, Theatre Royal, Hobart, Princess Theatre, Launceston, IMB Theatre, Wollongong, Darwin Entertainment Centre, The Butter Factory Theatre, Wodonga |
| 2005 | Black Medea | | Belvoir Street Theatre, Malthouse Theatre |

### As director

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1989 | The Second National Aboriginal Playwrights' Conference | Director | Macquarie University |