With the wishes of her family, The University of Melbourne had the sad duty of announcing the death of Fay Marles AM yesterday.
“Fay passed away yesterday evening in Melbourne with her children having spent the day beside her,” the University said in a statement.
Fay was the 18th Chancellor of the University of Melbourne serving between 2001 and 2004 and the first woman to serve in that role.
Her retirement brought to an end a 60 year association with the University which began with her undergraduate studies in 1944. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and a Diploma in Social Studies in 1948. 22 years later she returned to the University of Melbourne to undertake a Masters of Arts in history which she completed in 1975.
For two years she was on the University staff as a lecturer.
Born in Melbourne in 1926, Fay Marles grew up in a world where women were taught to keep their ambitions and aspirations small.
Over the course of her 98 years – she helped to lead a transformation that means, today, Victorian girls can now dream big.
“Fay served our state in many roles – as a social worker, an academic and an advocate,” the Victorian Government said in a statement.
But it was as Victoria’s Equal Opportunity Commissioner that she really made her mark.
“The first custodian of equal opportunity in our state’s history, Fay was determined to dismantle a culture the told women they were worth less.”
“She took on so-called ‘niche issues’ – sexual harassment, workplace discrimination, women’s pay – transforming them into topics worthy of national conversation.
“Perhaps her most well-known intervention was the “pilots’ case” – where she helped upend the offensive notion that somehow women were less skilled, less competent – less able.
:Fay would continue her trajectory of ‘firsts’, becoming the first woman Chancellor of the University of Melbourne in 2001. In that role – and consistent with her lifetime of challenging injustice – Fay dedicated herself to ensuring more First Peoples have the opportunity they deserve.
“On behalf of our state, we extend our condolences to Fay’s children Victoria, Jennifer, Elizabeth and Richard, their families and to the many people whose lives she touched,” the Government statement concluded.
In 1986, Fay was made a Member of the Order of Australia.
In 1951, Fay married Don Marles OAM, a partnership which lasted 66 years until Don’s death in 2017.
Fay is survived by her four children Victoria, Jennifer, Elizabeth and Richard.
Vale Fay Marles.
