Podcast of this lecture now available below.

Geraldine Cox, A.M. CV. Geraldine started her career with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs in 1970. Her first posting was to Phnom Penh, where she experienced life in a country caught up in the Vietnam War. Subsequent postings were: Manila, Bangkok, Tehran and Washington DC. After resigning from the government in 1987 she worked for 8 years with The Chase Manhattan Bank in Sydney. Her love of Cambodia remained and on a return visit in 1993 her journey to assist orphaned and underprivileged children began. Geraldine co- founded, what is now, the Sunrise Children’s Villages. In 2013 there are 400 children in three Sunrise Children’s Villages, including one specifically for AIDS infected children. Geraldine was granted full Cambodian Citizenship by Royal Decree in 1999 and in 2012 Cambodia’s Prime Minister, Hun Sen, awarded her the Royal Order of Sahametrei Medal. She is the recipient of many Australian awards and was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2000. Pan Macmillan published Geraldine’s autobiography, Home Is Where The Heart Is in 2000. The documentary on her life, My Khmer Heart, won the 2000 Hollywood Film Festival Documentary of the Year Award and has been screened extensively.

Geraldine’s presentation “Wealth of a Different Kind” will centre on how her life changed from one of materialism and hedonism, before discovering children in desperate need in the jungles of Cambodia in 1994 and, the joys that await those who dare to move out of their comfort zone.

Geraldine Cox is one of six women featured in the 2013 book; Inspiring Australian Women by Dr Kathryn Spurling, Visiting Scholar, School of History, ANU.

This event is supported by the ANU Gender Institute.

Enquiries: For further information contact Dr. Kathryn Spurling or Martina Fechner, ANU Gender Institute or 6125 6281.

Access: Free and open to the Public, no RSVP required.



Sunrise Children's Villages website

Geradine Cox website