Justine Florence Saunders, OAM (20 February 1953 – 15 April 2007) was an Australian stage, film and television actress. She was a member of the Woppaburra indigenous

Australian Aborigines

Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...

 people, from the Kanomie clan of Keppel Island

Keppel Island

Keppel Island is one of the Falkland Islands, lying between Saunders Island and Pebble Island, and near Golding Island to the north of West Falkland on Keppel Sound. It has an area of and its highest point, Mt Keppel, is high. There is a wide, flat valley in the centre of the island with...

 in Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

. She was born next to a railway track. At the age of 11, she was removed from her mother Heather, and taken to Brisbane and placed in a convent

Convent

A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...

. Heather was not told of Justine's whereabouts for more than ten years, and spent much of that time searching for her.

She first came to prominence as a cast member of the 1970s soap opera Number 96

Number 96 (TV series)

Number 96 was a popular Australian soap opera set in a Sydney apartment block. Don Cash and Bill Harmon produced the series for Network Ten, which requested a Coronation Street-type serial, and specifically one that explored adult subjects...

in 1976, and is also remembered for her role in Prisoner

Prisoner (TV series)

Prisoner is an Australian television soap opera which was set in the Wentworth Detention Centre, a fictional women's prison. The series was produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation and ran on Network Ten for 692 episodes from 27 February 1979 to 11 December 1986.The series was inspired by the 1970s...

as Pamela Madigan.

More recent TV credits include: Farscape

Farscape

Farscape is an Australian-American science fiction television series filmed in Australia and produced originally for the Nine Network. The series was conceived by Rockne S. O'Bannon and produced by Jim Henson Productions and Hallmark Entertainment...

, Blue Heelers

Blue Heelers

Blue Heelers is an Australian police drama series which depicted the lives of police officers stationed at the fictional Mount Thomas police station in a small town in Victoria.- Overview :...

, the mini-series Women of the Sun

Women of the Sun

Women of the Sun is an award-winning Australian historical drama television miniseries which was broadcast on SBS Television and later the Australian Broadcasting Company in 1981. The series, co-written by Sonia Borg and Hyllus Maris, was composed of four 60-minute episodes which portrayed the...

, and MDA.

Her film work includes The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith is a 1972 Booker Prize-nominated novel by Thomas Keneally, and a 1978 Australian film of the same name directed by Fred Schepisi. The novel is based on the life of bushranger Jimmy Governor....

and The Fringe Dwellers

The Fringe Dwellers

The Fringe Dwellers is a 1961 novel written by the Western Australian author Nene Gare. It was made into a 1986 film directed by Bruce Beresford.-The Film:...

.

In 1991 Justine Saunders was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia

Order of Australia

The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...

 (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

Aden Ridgeway

Aden Derek Ridgeway , Australian politician, was a member of the Australian Senate for New South Wales, from 1999 to 2005, representing the Australian Democrats. During his term he was the only Aboriginal member of the Australian Parliament.-Early history:Ridgeway was born in Macksville, New South...

, she returned the medal in protest at the emotional turmoil her mother was suffering over the Howard

John Howard

John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....

 government's denial of the term "stolen generation

Stolen Generation

The Stolen Generations were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian Federal and State government agencies and church missions, under acts of their respective parliaments...

".

Saunders died of cancer at Hawkesbury District Hospital, Sydney, aged 54.