Di Ryder OAM
Whadjuk and Yued Noongar and Yamatji Elder
Staff Sergeant
Australian Regular Army 1974-1995
Women’s Royal Australian Army Corps, Royal Australian Corps of Transport and the Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps
Australian Regular Army
Medals and Awards
Defence Force Service Medal
Australian Defence Medal
1990 Australia Day Medallion
2009 Perth NAIDOC Outstanding Achievement Award
2009 City of Swan Active Citizenship Award
2014 Elected President of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Veterans & Services Association of WA – Present
2014/2015 Midland NAIDOC Community Awards
2016 Recited “The Ode of Remembrance” at the AFL Fremantle Dockers versus Carlton ANZAC Day Game
2017 National NAIDOC Lifetime Achievement Award
2023 Medal of the Order of Australia OAM
2024 Inducted into the Western Australian Women’s Hall of Fame – First female Veteran to be inducted
I joined the Australian Army in 1974, after my older brother who had enlisted in the Army a couple of years earlier, had told me what Army life was like. I had been working at the Native Welfare Department since 1971, and wanted something more exciting, and on the 4th of June 1974, I arrived at the Women’s Royal Australian Army Corps School at Mosman in Sydney, for Recruit Training. Although the training was hard to start off with, I soon adapted and found out that I was strong and resilient, and from there, began my over 20 years of Army Service.
In 2014, when I was elected as President of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Veterans & Services Association of WA, my aim was to look after the welfare of Aboriginal Veterans and their families so we could improve their lives as I had heard how badly our Aboriginal Veterans were treated, as many were not getting the pensions or other support they were entitled to.
I grew up in Toodyay, Western Australia, with my amazing, strong parents Josephine and William Ryder, as one of 11 children. We were also very lucky to have our Nan and Pop Mary and Thomas Ryder, and our Nan Katie Taylor close by growing up, all having a huge influence on our lives.
When I left school, I couldn’t get a job in Toodyay, so I went to work with Mum at the Chicken Farm at Woorooloo and in 1971, I started working at the Native Welfare Department as a receptionist. Working there was not good as there were still many policies in place that had control over us as Noongar People. On the 4th of June 1974, I joined the Australian Army, where I spent the next 20 years.
I felt honoured in 1990 when I was awarded the Army Australia Day Medallion for my dedication to duty as the Discharge Sergeant at the District Support Unit Perth at Irwin Barracks Karrakatta.
Following my retirement from the Army in 1995, I began working as a youth worker and Aboriginal Community Development Officer at South Sydney City Council, working in Redfern and other inner-city Sydney areas before returning to Perth.
I began volunteering in the Midland Community in 2007 and started work with the Street Doctor in 2008 as the Indigenous Outreach Worker. The Street Doctor provided much-needed health services to a lot of the areas where our Noongar People were, including Cullacabardee Aboriginal Community, a local Elders Day Centre in Middle Swan, and the homeless in the city. The Street Doctor was also part of the Telethon Speech and Hearing Ear Bus Programme that went to primary schools in the local area, providing healthcare for our Aboriginal children with Otitis Media, which affects many of our children.
I retired in 2011 and continued volunteering in the community. In 2014, I became President of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services and Veterans Association (ATSIVSA) of Western Australia, and I am on the committee, and MC of the Indigenous Veterans’ Commemoration Service held at the State War Memorial each year during Reconciliation Week, and I have also been on many committees and boards, and have held multiple roles within the Midland Community.
Along with my other achievements and awards, I was humbled and honoured to has been recognised with the 2017 National NAIDOC Lifetime Achievement Award, in 2023, I received the Order of Australia Medal OAM, and this year, 2024, I was the first female Veteran to be Inducted into the WA Women’s Hall of Fame.
Although these achievements are humbling and I am honoured to have received them, my biggest achievement is my son Jay, who was born in 1980, who has been beside me all his life and continues to be, and with my daughter-in-law Sharrie, has given me my gorgeous grandsons Kash and Kane. My sisters and brothers and their families are always there to support me in my many projects within the community, and along with Jay and Sharrie, all play an important part in how much I have achieved. The local Midland Community also continues to support me in so many ways to help those most in need.
The love, support and guidance I had received at an early age from my parents, my mum Josephine, who passed away in 2006, and my dad William in 2020, taught me that with hard work, mutual respect and commitment, that I could achieve anything I set my mind to.