Naomi Mayers is a very determined woman. She has a generous laugh and a strong spirit which comes from her deep family ties to the old Cummeragunja mission.

She's been the CEO of the Aboriginal Medical Service (AMS) in Sydney's Redfern for many years. One of the volunteer doctors in the mid 1970s was the current Deputy Premier of New South Wales, Dr Andrew Refshauge, who says admiringly, "She's an impressive woman who sees through people who talk bullshit!"

Episode director Catriona McKenzie recently graduated from the Australian Film, Television and Radio School with an MA (Hons) in Directing and has some award-winning films to her credit.

"I'm really lucky that producer Rod Freedman asked me to work with him on the film," says Catriona. "When I met Naomi I knew it was going to be a lot of fun. She's from Cummeragunja on the border of NSW and Victoria and my mob's from Victoria too. It felt like hanging out with my family. Naomi decided she was going to a school reunion in Shepparton. Her sisters, Geraldine and Beverley came along as well as her cousins, Lois and Thelma. It was like a road trip."

Naomi comes from a strong family. Two brothers married two cousins so the families are very close. As a child, she recalls everyone fruit picking in the orchards on the fruit picking and her early memories are all very positive.

But things took a turn for the worse when her parents split up and Naomi and her sister Beverley were sent to an orphanage. They spent many years away from their family, first at St Aidan's Orphanage in Bendigo then at Abbotsford Convent in Melbourne. Despite the trauma of these experiences, both women look back on those times as character building.

Catriona recalls, "During the shoot, we wandered around both schools, now derelict. They brought back powerful memories for Naomi and she was clearly affected by the experience."

Producer Rod Freedman says, "In the film, Naomi relates some very personal memories. They reveal a lot about Naomi's qualities, like her instinct to oppose racism in every form - if necessary by confrontation! We hadn't scripted any of this, so it really affected the development of the film away from being just a history of the Aboriginal Medical Service. The film now interweaves her personal and professional life in a powerful portrait of a proud woman."

Catriona adds, "There were so many great moments while we were making this documentary, but we couldn't fit them all into 26 minutes. It's been a privilege spending time with Naomi and her family. She's been a big boss for 30 years, but she put up with me telling her what to do."

Something that emerged in the filming was the love of singing in Naomi's family: "The whole family always sang. It was part of growing up with our family." Some of these songs feature in the film, along with original music by Indigenous composer Jeff Dunn from Sydney.

Rod Freedman comments, "Archival footage was particularly important in this film as Catriona filmed the main interview with a bluescreen background and we needed stills and footage to illustrate important times in Naomi's life. Both Catriona and line producer, Isabel Perez, did some great research in finding relevant footage, including the opening of the Aboriginal Medical Service with characteristic commentary that would be unthinkable these days.

"We discovered a fantastic bit of footage through Screensound Australia which shows a very young Naomi singing in a group with Pastor Doug Nicholls in Melbourne. Amazingly, we also found footage of Naomi's mum when she managed a hostel with the late Pastor Doug who, like Naomi, came from Cummeragunja and was a strong political activist."

Naomi has never differentiated between the political and the personal. As she firmly states, "Aboriginals have always been the biggest political footballs in this country."

Aboriginal health issues are at the forefront of political wrangling and Naomi's work over the years has seen a humble community-based service rise to being an organisation respected not just in Australia but internationally. Naomi is frequently asked to address conferences overseas and receives international visitors who come to see why the Redfern service works so well for inner-city Aboriginal people.

Despite the recognition of her services with an Order of Australia medal, you'd be wrong to think that Naomi feels she's been successful. Ever a realist, she faces an everyday struggle for funding and recognition of the health issues facing Aboriginal people in Australia. As Naomi says, "It's a constant fight."

The six-part Everyday Brave series was designed not only to celebrate Indigenous Australian achievers but also to offer production opportunities and skills development to Indigenous filmmakers.

• About the filmmakers
• About the production companies
• Behind the scenes: production stories
• Back to Indigenous Voices Showcase home

For more about the series and specific episodes, see our program detail pages where you can also purchase video copies online:

• Everyday Brave: The Series
• For Who I Am-Bonita Mabo
• Jetja Nai Medical Mob-Naomi Mayers
• Media Nomads-The Thaiday Brothers
• Mistake Creek-Steven Craig
• Saltwater Bluesman-Uncle Kiddo Taylor
• Stranger in My Skin-Ray Cotti

Download a copy of the Everyday Brave teachers notes (Acrobat pdf, 392kb)

Download a copy of the Everyday Brave press kit (Word file, 336k) which includes:

• synopses
• production stories
• filmmaker biographies
• full credit list

for each episode

Note: detailed information is available for many titles in press kits that are downloadable from program detail pages.