Bronwyn (Bron) Taylor

Born in 1962, Bron Taylor was the first Australian to be born in the Indonesian province of Aceh, where her parents were teaching at a university. The family returned to live in rural Victoria in 1963. At the age of 15, Bron began teaching Sunday School. She became a Brownie and Girl Guide leader and later helped start the Tallangatta Music Group.

Her community involvement started at an early age. In 1983 Bron completed a Diploma in Early Childhood Development and went on to teach at the pre-school in Bunyip and then Buninyong Kindergarten. When Bron arrived in the northern Victorian township of Yarrawonga in 1989, pregnant with her first child, her first thoughts were 'how can I turn Yarrawonga into a better place to live?' She started a playgroup that connected isolated and lonely young mothers.

Bron never hesitated to take up a cause: establishing a toy library; raising funds for women in from Addis Ababa; or saving the beautiful lakeside environment of Chinaman's Island, Bron unhesitatingly offered her services and followed through with action. Bron has been involved with many organisations in the Yarrawonga district, including the Friends of Chinaman's Island (Environmental Group), the Mulwala Preschool Committee, Yarrawonga Special Needs Playgroup, Moira Shire Action Group, Yarrawonga Mulwala Toy Library, Yarrawonga Community Volunteers Support Group, Lake Mulwala Eastern Foreshore Committee and Friends in Common (Yarrawonga Cancer Support Group).

Beyond her extensive voluntary work, Bron is a mother of three young children, an emergency pre-school teacher, company director and spouse of a busy country doctor. In 2002, the Moira Shire Council awarded her Citizen of the Year. She has been battling cancer since 1997, but has continued her work and support for women and the Yarrawonga community.

Bron's life has been a case of leading by example. She has shown that nothing succeeds like persistence. She has shown women that you do not need to sacrifice your interests or beliefs for others. Bron is the epitome of the all-Australian country girl; tenacious, robust and full of compassion - a shining example for women all around her.