Colette McAlpine

Awarded for service to cultural heritage; arts and media; community advocacy and inclusion; volunteering

Born: 18 May 1955

Entered on roll: 2023

" A rich resource bringing 13,000 women out of obscurity"

Colette McAlpine has been instrumental in developing a database of women convicts.

Colette joined the Female Convicts Research Centre in 2006 and took on the task of transcribing and electronically recording the handwritten records of female convicts. The database is a rich resource for family and academic historians and medical researchers.

Colette’s driving ambition is to make sure the 13,000 women transported to Tasmania are not forgotten and their contributions are recognised.

As part of the project, Colette wrote to over 80 historical societies in the United Kingdom and Ireland outlining the project and inviting contributions. Colette also transcribes records, methodically reviews existing data for accuracy, enters data from volunteers, and searches for records in obscure places.

The database is a valuable resource for the authors of eight books published by the Convict Women’s Press. Colette has served on the committee of the Convict Women’s Press since its inception in 2010 and was a vice-president.

She co-edited the book From the Edges of Empire: Convict Women from Beyond the British Isles, and set up an online biographical dictionary of these women. Colette was a member of the first Cascade Female Factory Historic Site Community Advisory Committee and the earlier Female Factory Historic Site Ltd board.

Colette worked as an English and History teacher for 33 years and was a much-loved teacher at Ulverstone, Latrobe,

Claremont and New Town High Schools and the Don College.

During her career, Colette represented teachers on various panels, sat on the State Service Review Panel, and was Southern Deputy President of the Australian Education Union Tasmania branch from 2002 to 2004.

Over the last 45 years, Colette has served on the Community Youth Support Scheme, Women’s Shelter in Ulverstone, North West Community Health Forum, Turners Beach Play Group Association, Australian Labor Party State Administrative Committee, Dental Board of Tasmania 2005–2010, and the Tasmanian Registration and Notifications Committee and Immediate Action Committee of the Dental Board of Australia.