Alice Arnott Oppen OAM (12/2/1939-2/12/2024)

Visionary feminist, activist and benefactor

Alice Oppen OAM was a wonderfully generous supporter of Sydney and National MOW Sydney and a passionate advocate for women’s empowerment, particularly in the Asia Pacific region.

Alice Arnott was born in New Jersey on 12 February 1939.  She attained her BA (English Language and Literature / Letters) at Smith College, a Liberal Arts College for Women in Northampton MA, and an MA in Teaching at the University of Chicago.  She moved to Australia in 1964 and in 1966 married Conrad Oppen.

Between 1963-93, Alice taught Literature at secondary and tertiary levels, including Knox Grammar School, TAFE and the University of Sydney, where she pursued an MA in Australian Literature.  She had a lifelong interest in literature, spirituality and the arts, seen early in her Southerly article on Randolph Stow and then in her MA thesis, Visionary Novels: The Mythic Constructs of Patrick White, Randolph Stow, Thomas Keneally (1972).  Alice also published two books, Shakespeare: Listening to the Women (1999 http://www.oppen.net.au/shakespeare/) and a “collage” of descriptions, stories, speeches and poems, Just While I’m Waiting (2009).  Of this book she wrote: “What is important about my life? Not a magnum opus after all, not an autobiography, this collection shares delights and concerns that I hope will last and reach across generations” (https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Just_While_I_m_Waiting.html?id=uZFMQwAACAAJ&redir_esc=y ).  Alice was a board member of the Jessie Street National Library (1988) and chair of the State Library of NSW Foundation (1998-99).

Alice was a practical and committed activist.  She was a director of Arnotts Ltd (1994-97), having previously advocated for the company to stay in Australian hands, and a Fellow of, and consultant to, the Australian Institute of Company Directors.  She also had a particular interest, as she expressed it in her Linkedin profile, in “connecting advocacy and fundraising for women’s enablement and environmental sustainability through access to family planning”.  In this capacity, she was a non-executive director of ChildFund Australia (1998-2006); ChildFund International; Family Planning NSW (2006-11); and Sexual Health and Family Planning Australia.  She was the founder of the Women’s Plans in 2002, which was formalised as Women’s Plans Foundation in 2004, chair until 2022, and its patron until her death.  WPF advocates for better outcomes for women and their families (https://www.womensplans.org/about).

Alice was an active member in too many organisations to list, but they indicate the very broad span of her interests, including conservation, education, ethics, history, literature, suburban planning, and women’s health and rights.  She was also a very generous donor, benefiting cultural, educational and feminist organisations such as the Australian Museum, the National Council of Women NSW, MOW, the State Library of NSW, the University of Sydney, and Visual Arts in the Valley.  It was fitting that, in 2011, she should be awarded an OAM for services to the community through roles for heritage, women and charitable purposes.

Alice had a long connection with Hunter’s Hill, including four terms as President of the Hunter’s Hill Trust, editor of Old Buildings of Hunter’s Hill (1977) and The Heritage of Hunters Hill (1982), and, since 2000, editor of the parish magazine, Contact.  She and her late husband were faithful parishioners at All Saint’s, Hunters Hill, generous in giving and always supportive.  Her funeral was held at All Saint’s on 12 December 2024.

When asked to summarise her life ethic, she wrote: “I say ‘for we all share in the one bread’ each week, a response to the knowledge that around the world people need all we can do in sharing” (Who’s Who of Australian Women, 2015).

Alice will be sorely missed by all who enjoyed her lively presence and enthusiastic commitment to the causes she so freely supported.