A passion for sport, community and her people

Nova Peris is a Gija, Yawuru and Gagudju woman who was born and grew up on Larrakia country.

From a young age, Nova has always held a passion for sport, community and her people.
In 1996 she became the first Australian First Nations person to win gold at the Olympic Games as part of the Hockeyroos team.

She switched sports to Athletics and won gold again, twice, at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. During her sporting career, Nova was busy raising a family, and she then became the first Australian Aboriginal woman elected to Federal Parliament in 2013.