Ted Lovett (born 15 February 1941) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played with Fitzroy in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL). Lovett played two games for Fitzroy in the

1963 VFL season The 1963 VFL season was the 67th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 20 April until 5 October, and comprised an 18 ...

, on a permit. He finished the year back at

North Ballarat The North Ballarat Football Club, nicknamed the Roosters, is an Australian rules football and netball club based at Mars Stadium in Ballarat. The club was founded in 1882 and has competed in the Ballarat Football Netball League (BFNL), and pr ...

and won the first of two Henderson Medal, the other coming in 1965. He played seven games for Fitzroy 1964.He is an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

Early life

Lovett is the son of

Alf Egan Alfred George Egan (3 April 1910 – 21 January 1962) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Carlton and North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Family The son of Edward Egan, and Margaret Egan, née Farrell, Alfred ...

, the first Indigenous player for the

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Princes Park (stadium), Princes Park in Carlton North, Victoria, Carlton North, an inner suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. The c ...

, and Gertie, of the

Gunditjmara The Gunditjmara or Gunditjamara, also known as Dhauwurd Wurrung, are an Aboriginal people of southwestern Victoria in Australia. They are the Traditional Owners of the areas now encompassing Warrnambool, Port Fairy, Woolsthorpe and Portland. ...

tribe. He grew up in

Fitzroy, Victoria Fitzroy is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, northeast of the Melbourne central business district, located within the City of Yarra Local government areas of Victoria, local government area. Fitzroy recorded a population ...

. He was made a

ward of the state In law, a ward is a minor or incapacitated adult placed under the protection of a legal guardian or government entity, such as a court. Such a person may be referenced as a "ward of the court". Overview The wardship jurisdiction is an ancient ju ...

against his family wishes. He attended school until Grade 5. In 1955, at age 14, Ted and his non-Aboriginal friend of the same age went to Mildura to go fruit picking, but they were picked up by the police and locked up. The non-Aboriginal boy's parents were notified and told to collect him, however, Ted's mother was not notified. Ted commented: “From Mildura I was sent to the Ballarat Gaol with adult prisoners and then went to Court and was made a State Ward. For the next seven years I was in and out of boys’ homes including Turana Boys Home, Bayswater Salvation Army Boys Home, and Langi Kal Kal, Youth Training Centre. The treatment in the Boys’ Homes was unjust and inhumane. I was treated cruelly in the homes; no child should have been there. I would escape but was just sent back again.”

Community service

In the 1970s Lovett worked for Aboriginal Affairs. He played a key role in setting up the Ballarat and District Aboriginal Cooperative, which specialises in Aboriginal health, welfare and community development. He also worked with eye doctor

Fred Hollows Frederick Cossom Hollows (9 April 1929 – 10 February 1993) was a New Zealand–Australian ophthalmologist who became known for his work in restoring eyesight for people in Australia and many other countries through initiatives such as The ...

. In 2017, Lovett was awarded the

Order of Australia Medal The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

for services to the Indigenous community in south-west Victoria.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lovett, Ted 1942 births Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football Fitzroy Football Club players North Ballarat Football Club players Living people Members of the Stolen Generations Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia 20th-century Australian sportsmen