Carol Pettersen won the title of Female Elder of the Year.

Ms Pettersen has lived and worked in Albany for most of her life, and is well-known throughout the community as a tireless worker for the Noongar people.

She is involved in local primary schools doing cross-cultural workshops and liaising with teachers, parents and students to access the best opportunities for youth.

Last year, she launched two story-telling books combining the Noongar language with English for use as an education resource in schools.

Ms Pettersen said she did not become comfortable speaking in her native Noongar dialect until she turned 54, after years of being chastised and threatened as a young child.

“For too long my language has been under the shroud of denial, of shame,” she said.

Ms Pettersen has been very active in indigenous affairs for more than 40 years. She was a principal adviser to the WA Premier on women’s issues, and has been appointed to many State and Commonwealth committees and boards.

She was an Albany Shire Councillor and had a chamber room named after her.

Although officially retired, she is still very involved as a cultural spokesperson working alongside mining companies such as BHP Billiton.