The Australian Women's Register

Sally Morgan was born and raised in Perth, Western Australia. She completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Western Australia in 1974, followed by postgraduate diplomas in counselling, computing and librarianship at the Curtin Institute of Technology in Perth. Curious about her background, she began investigating her family’s history, and discovered she had relatives at the Corunna Downs station in Western Australia’s Pilbara district.

In 1987 Morgan became a national celebrity with the release of her autobiography, My Place, which charts her discovery of her Aboriginality and outlines her family history. The book won the inaugural Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission humanitarian award in 1987 and the Western Australia Week literary award for non-fiction in 1988. She subsequently published several books.

Sally Morgan is also a nationally recognised artist, and has held numerous exhibitions. Her paintings can be found in major collections including the Robert Holmes a Court collection, the Dobell Foundation and the Australian National Gallery. She was awarded a Medal of Australia in 1990.