Mavis Taylor (1915 – 14 March 2007) was an Australian who was named an Australian Living Treasure for her humanitarian work for the people of East Timor in her later years.
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Mrs Taylor was born in Richmond, Tasmania in 1915.[1] [2] At 16 she moved to Yarrawonga in Victoria, Australia. In Yarrawonga, she married, raised 9 children, and established a clothesmaking and haberdashery business.[2]
She started collecting and sending household items to East Timor after seeing violence during the difficult period of move to independence.[3] By 2004 she had personally organised 21 shipping containers of practical aid, including stock from her own business[4] and had set up 23 sewing centres providing employment for East Timorese with major funding she provided.[2]