Class of 1957

Cedric Morgan Wyatt was born into the post-recession world of WA to a white father and an indigenous mother. He was taken from his family as a baby to live at the Moore River Native Settlement. As a child of the Stolen Generation, Cedric was profoundly affected by the separation from his mother, making his rise to become a senior public figure all the more impressive. His son, Ben, later spoke of this during the 10th anniversary of Kevin Rudd’s Stolen Generation apology. “It really dictated his passion and determination, he has a fundamental weakness as a result of that disconnection with his own mother and his own family… it was a journey that he was never able to fully recover from.” In fact, he was to meet his mother later in life, but never recovered from the anxiety that separation caused.

From Moore River, Cedric was educated at Sister Kate’s School in Castledare, then at Clontarf and finally enrolled at Aquinas to complete Year 11 and 12. Cedric was a day boy and did well, was universally liked and played in the school’s 1st XVIII. One of his mates remembers him as “full of life with a wonderful attitude”.

After school, he enlisted with the Royal Australian Air Force and moved to Papua New Guinea. He married teacher and librarian Janine Nowotna and had two children Katie and Ben. Cedric possessed a strong sense of caring for others which drove him into education as a teacher then principal and finally a public servant before coming back to Perth in 1976.

Cedric became the head of the then WA Department of Aboriginal Affairs and a fierce protector of indigenous rights. He was made Commissioner of the Aboriginal Affairs Planning Authority in 1989 and Chief Executive of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, now Indigenous Affairs (1995 to 1999). In the early 2000s he was President of the Shire of Cue and at the same time, he ran the Murchison Club Hotel where he famously declined to serve drinks to those he felt didn’t need them.

He retired but was pulled back into the workforce to work as a Court Officer for the ALS in Laverton when there was no one else to do the job. He was also Chief Executive of the Jigalong community where he was a strong advocate for his people. Cedric had political ambition but was unlucky in the 1996 election when he stood as a Liberal candidate for Kalgoorlie. It was the next generation who would catch that wave successfully. But Cedric was a courageous and tireless advocate for his community.

When he passed away in 2014 at the young age of 74, there was an outpouring of grief from many quarters none more so than the academic world. He had been a Governor of Notre Dame University for seven years. At the time of his passing, the university acknowledged Cedric was regarded as “a much-respected and admired person, leader and mentor who fought for the advancement of the aboriginal community and was driven by a deep resolve for change”.