Claire Dunne

Claire Mary Elizabeth Dunne OAM (born 1937), is an Irish-born Australian actress, author, lecturer and broadcaster. Her first name is also found as Clare.

For those of a similar name, see Claire Dunne (disambiguation).

Claire Dunne

OAM
Born
Claire Mary Elizabeth Dunne

1937 (age 85–86)
Ireland
Occupations
  • Actress
  • author
  • lecturer
  • broadcaster
  • multiculture activist

1960s Australian celebrity

Dunne was a popular Australian television and film personality of the 1960s. She starred as "Kay" in the seminal Australian film They're a Weird Mob (1966) and was also a regular on Beauty and the Beast with Maggie Tabberer.

Her fame within Australia in the 1960s was described by Thomas Keneally:

  • "Clare Dunne, she was a goddess to me. She was this exquisite bone-structured Irish woman who was beloved on the media in Australia."[1]

Multicultural broadcasting pioneer

Dunne went on to pioneer multicultural broadcasting in Australia as a Foundation Director of what went on to become the Special Broadcasting Service, as well as a presenter and a producer or radio and television for SBS.[2]

In 1986, then-Prime Minister Bob Hawke delivered a "series of blows aimed at multiculturalism", including a decision to close the Australian Institute of Multicultural Affairs[3] and proposed legislation that would merge SBS into the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Dunne was a vociferous opponent of both changes. She said at the time:

"I think there is going to be an uproar. There seems to be an undeclared Government change of policy about multiculturalism. Last week it was announced that the Institute of Multicultural Affairs would be closed. Now it is the SBS-ABC merger in spite of the fact that only six months ago the Government decided to let it be independent."[4]

There was indeed an uproar, eventually leading the Prime Minister to call off the merger.

She was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1999 for "service to multiculturalism, particularly through the promotion of Celtic culture, and to ethnic broadcasting".[5]

Author

Dunne has published three books:

  • People under the skin: an Irish immigrant's experience of Aboriginal Australia (1988)
  • Mary MacKillop: No Plaster Saint (1994)
  • Carl Jung: Wounded Healer of the Soul (2000)

References
  1. "Australian Biography: Thomas Keneally". National Film and Sound Archive. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  2. "CLARE DUNNE'S success story..." The Australian Women's Weekly. National Library of Australia. 1 October 1975. p. 65. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  3. Dunne, Clare (1986). "AIMA axed" (PDF). Ethnic Spotlight. No. 10. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  4. Lois E. Foster (1988). David Stockley (ed.). Australian Multiculturalism: A Documentary History and Critique. Multilingual Matters. pp. 178–. ISBN 978-1-85359-008-5. OCLC 1272025663.
  5. "Ms Clare Mary Elizabeth Dunne, OAM". Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
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